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Commissions of Inquiry Act 1964

[1978 – 1996 Edition]

LAWS OF WESTERN SAMOA

THE COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY ACT 1964

1964, No.5
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ANALYSIS

TITLE

1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Interpretation
4. Appointment of Commissions
5. Protection of members
6. Commission's powers
7. Persons interested entitled to be heard
8. Service of summons
9. Protection of witnesses and counsel
10. Witnesses' expenses and allowances
11. Payment of witnesses' expenses and allowances
12. Non-attendance, etc., of witness
13. Reference of point of law to Court
14. Fees and travelling expenses of members of Commission
15. Secrecy
16. Power to award costs
17. Enforcement of Order
18. Repeal

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THE COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY ACT 1964

1964, No. 5

AN ACT to consolidate and amend the law relating to Commissions of Inquiry

(31 July 1964)

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1964.

2. Commencement - (1) Section 14 of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 26th day of August 1960.

(2) The balance of this Act shall come into force on the day on which this Act is assented to by the Head of State.

3. Interpretation - In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Commission" means a Commission of Inquiry appointed under this Act;

"Court" means the Supreme Court of Western Samoa;

"Day" means any continuous period of 24 hours commencing at midnight;

"Minister" means the Minister of Justice;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of the Court and includes a Deputy Registrar.

4. Appointment of Commissions - The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may appoint any person or persons to be a Commission to inquire into and report to Cabinet and to no one else upon any question arising out of or concerning:

(a) The administration of the Government; or

(b) The working of any existing law; or

(c) The necessity or expediency of any legislation; or

(d) The conduct of any employee of the Government; or

(e) Any disaster or accident (whether due to natural causes or otherwise) in which any citizen or ordinary resident of Western Samoa was killed or injured or was or might have been exposed to risk of death or injury.

5. Protection of members - So long as any member of any such Commission acts bona fide in the discharge of his duties no action shall lie against him for anything he may say in the course of the inquiry, or in the Commission's report.

6. Commission's powers - (1) Every such Commission may:

(a) Hold the inquiry either in public or in private or partly in public and partly in private;

(b) Prohibit publication of the names of a witness or witnesses;

(c) Prohibit publication of any report or account of the evidence given at the inquiry (whether heard in public or in private) or any part of it; and

(d) Admit any evidence which appears to the Commission to be relevant whether strictly admissible in a Court of law or not.

(2) Subject to subsection (1) of this section, every such Commission shall for the purpose of the inquiry have the power and status of a Judge of the Court in respect of citing parties interested in the inquiry, summoning witnesses, administering oaths, hearing evidence, and conducting and maintaining order at the inquiry.

7. Persons interested entitled to be heard - Any person who satisfies the Commission that he has an interest in the inquiry apart from any interest in common with the public shall be entitled to appear and be heard at the inquiry as if he had been cited as a party to the inquiry.

8. Service of summons - Every summons to a witness shall be served either by delivering the same to him personally or by leaving the same at his usual place of abode at least 24 hours before his attendance is required.

9. Protection of witnesses and counsel - Every witness attending and giving evidence, whether in pursuance of any such summons or not, and every counsel appearing before any Commission, shall have the same privileges and immunities as witnesses and counsel in Courts of law.

10. Witnesses' expenses and allowances - Every witness attending in pursuance of any such summons shall be entitled to travelling expenses and maintenance allowance during his absence from his usual place of abode at such rates as may be fixed by the Registrar:

PROVIDED THAT persons prosecuting any claim before a Commission shall not be entitled to be paid any money under this section.

11. Payment of witnesses' expenses and allowances - (1) Where the Commission has obtained the authority in writing of the Minister for summoning any witness, the expenses and allowance of that witness shall, if certified by the Chairman of the Commission and fixed by the Registrar, be paid by the Minister of Finance out of the Treasury Fund.

(2) In every other case the person requiring the evidence of any witness shall, before the summons is issued, deposit with the Commission such sum of money as the Registrar deems sufficient, and the expenses and allowance of the witness shall be paid primarily out of the sum so deposited.

12. Non-attendance, etc., of witness - Every person who, after being fully summoned to attend before the Commission or to produce thereto any books, papers, writings, or documents:

(a) Fails to appear according to the exigency of such summons; or

(b) Refuses to be sworn or to give evidence or to make answer to such questions as may be put to him by the Commission or any member thereof touching the subject of the inquiry; or

(c) Fails to produce any such books, papers, writings, or documents is liable for every such default to a fine not exceeding $40:

PROVIDED THAT no person so summoned shall be liable to any such fine unless at the time of the service of the summons there was made to him a payment or a tender of his travelling expenses provisionally approved by the Registrar.

13. Reference of point of law to Court - (1) The Commission may refer any disputed point of law arising in the course of an inquiry to the Court for decision, and for this purpose may either conclude the inquiry subject to such decision or may at any stage of the inquiry adjourn it until after such decision has been given.

(2) The question shall be in the form of a special case to be drawn up by the parties (if any) to the inquiry and if the parties do not agree or there are no parties, to be settled by the Commission.

(3) The decision of the Court shall be final and binding on all parties to the inquiry and on the Commission.

(4) In every case where under this Act the Head of State appoints one or more Judges of the Court to be members of a Commission for the purpose of holding any inquiry, any disputed question of law shall be referred to the Court of Appeal.

14. Fees and travelling expenses of members of Commission - The Minister of Finance shall pay out of the Treasury Fund:

(a) To each member of a Commission, any travelling expenses reasonably incurred by him in respect of his attendance at meetings of the Commission; and

(b)To the Chairman of a Commission, if he is not a salaried employee of the Government, and to each other member of a Commission who is not a salaried employee of the Government, such sum or sums as Cabinet from time to time approves in respect of each day or part of a day of his attendance at meetings of the Commission.

15. Secrecy - (1) Every member of each such Commission, and every person engaged or employed in connection with the work of the Commission, shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of all matters which come to his knowledge, when carrying out his functions or duties in connection with the work of the Commission, and shall not communicate any such matters to any person except for the purpose of reporting to Cabinet.

(2) Every person who wilfully acts in contravention of subsection (1) of this section, and every person who wilfully publishes any report of a Commission or any part thereof or any account thereof before it has been released for publication by Cabinet, commits an offence against this Act, and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $200.

16. Power to award costs - The Commission upon the hearing of an inquiry may order that the whole or any portion of the costs of the inquiry or of any party thereto shall be paid by any of the parties thereto, or by all or any of the persons who have procured the inquiry to be held:

PROVIDED THAT no such order may be made against any person who has not been cited as a party or authorised by the Commission, pursuant to section 7 of this Act, to appear and be heard at the inquiry, or summoned to attend and give evidence at the inquiry.

17. Enforcement of Order - For the purpose of enforcing any Order of the Commission for the payment of costs, a duplicate of such Order may be filed by the person to whom the costs are payable in the office of the Court named in the Order and shall thereupon be enforceable in all respects as a final judgment of that Court in its civil jurisdiction.

18. Repeal - The Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance 1960 is hereby repealed.

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The Commission of Inquiry Act 1964 is administered
in the Department of Justice