Privacy Act Legal Opinion

Liam made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police

The request was successful.

From: Liam

Dear New Zealand Police,

This is a request for information, made under the provisions of ss 4 and 5 of the Official Information Act 1982 (“the Act”). I therefore would like the following information;

1. The legal opinion sought by the File Management Centre around April 2014, with regards to Privacy Act requests, covering cases where charges are “Dismissed” where Diversion is completed.

If you need any clarification regarding this, please reply directly to this email request as soon as possible.

Please consider redacting any private or information of confidence, if need be.

Please CONFIRM receipt of this email to prevent unnecessary follow-up emails and extensions being requested.
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As required by s12(1) of the Act, I am a New Zealand citizen. I will provide confirmation of this, if required. However, since all of our correspondence will be published on the FYI.org.nz site, I will only do so over the phone or email, with which you provide. This would only be for the purpose of citizenship confirmation, and nothing further related to this request.

As required by s13(c) of the Act, if this request “has not been made … to the appropriate department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or local authority”, it is your duty to give reasonable assistance to me to direct my request to the appropriate department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or local authority.

Further to the above statutory requirement, under s14 of the Act, if the information I seek is either not held or you believe it is more closely connected with another department or Minister of the Crown or organisation, or of a local authority you shall promptly, and in any case not later than 10 working days after the day on which the request is received, transfer the request to the other department or Minister of the Crown or organisation, or to that local authority, AND inform me accordingly.

As required under s15A of the Act, if you believe that a time extension is warranted for this request, you must under ss15A(2),(3) and (4) give notice to me of this extension within 20 working days after the day on which my request was received. In that notice, you should state; the period of the extension, give reasons for the extension and remind me of my right to complain to the Ombudsman under s28(3). Finally, the extension must be for a reasonable time, having regards to the circumstances.

As required by s18B of the Act, you must consider consulting me before refusing my request under the provisions of ss18(e) and (f) which relate to a document not being able to be found or existing or where substantial collation and research would be required for my current request.

As required by s19(a)(i), you must provide reasons if you refuse any parts of this request.

I will, if required, complain to the Ombudsman, as is my right under s28(3) of the Act, if any of the above statutory requirements on you are not complied with. Further to this, if your reply is not “as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days after the day on which the request is received” as required under s15(1) of the Act, I will also complain to the Ombudsman.

This request is made through the site FYI.org.nz. All correspondence will be automatically forwarded to me through the site and published online immediately. I require, where appropriate, all electronic copies of all documents in your response. For more information on how the site works, please visit www.fyi.org.nz/help/about.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Stoneley

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From: Liam

Dear New Zealand Police,

I usually receive confirmation of receiving requests from you.

This has not occurred.

This request in now over half way through the 20 day time limit.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Stoneley

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New Zealand Police

Hello,
 
We'll make some inquiries as to where your OIA is at.
 
Kind regards,
Police Public Affairs

-----Liam Stoneley <[FOI #2766 email]> wrote:
-----
To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Liam Stoneley <[FOI #2766 email]>
Date: 11/06/2015 11:05PM
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request - Privacy Act Legal Opinion

Dear New Zealand Police,

I usually receive confirmation of receiving requests from you.

This has not occurred.

This request in now over half way through the 20 day time limit.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Stoneley

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2766 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

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From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police

Dear Mr Stoneley

 

Your request  of 25 May 2015 for the following information:

 

1. The legal opinion sought by the File Management Centre around April
2014, with regards to Privacy Act requests, covering cases where charges
are “Dismissed” where Diversion is completed.

 

has been received and is being managed under the Official Information Act.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Teresa McMahon

Police National Headquarters

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WARNING

The information contained in this email message is intended for the
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this
message or any of its contents.

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect
those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in
error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

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From: Liam

Dear MCMAHON, Teresa,

You have not replied within the 20 working-day period.

Please do so today.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Stoneley

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Liam left an annotation ()

Just had a call from Police.

They apologised for the delay and explained what was causing it. What is interesting is that the person was from a District ie not from the National headquarters or the OIA team. I would have thought that Police would have just asked for an extension (as the grounds sounded reasonable) but instead they personally rung to apologise.

Not sure how I feel about the fact they had searched their databases for my number, when it had nothing to do with me in my capacity as an OIA requester though...

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From: Liam

Dear MCMAHON, Teresa,

This is long overdue. Please reply immediately.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Stoneley

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From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police

Dear Mr Stoneley

This request is with the Tasman File Management Centre.

I have asked them to reply directly to you to update you on your request.

Please advise me if you have not received an update in the last 24 hours.

Thank you
Teresa McMahon

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From: Liam

Dear MCMAHON, Teresa,

I have not had any correspondence with them in the last two weeks. I would request that the response is sent to this email account, no where else.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Stoneley

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From: Liam

Dear MCMAHON, Teresa,

This now completely unacceptable. Respond immediately.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Stoneley

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Liam left an annotation ()

Response sent to requester via personal email. Not asked for this way, nor asked to be communicated via personal cell.

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
New Zealand Police only: