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6 May 2026
Lance D. Lavery
By email: [FYI request #34444 email]
Tēnā koe Lance
Official information request for documents created following R v Harris and the Supreme Court
judgment in Tamihere v R [2026] NZSC 22
Our Ref: OIA-2526178
I refer to your official information request dated 9 April 2026 for:
1. Any policy, guideline, protocol, or practice direction issued by the Solicitor-General or the Crown
Law Office governing the use of prison informant evidence in criminal prosecutions, including any
version issued, updated, or reviewed following Harris's perjury conviction in September 2017.
2. Any internal review, audit, lessons-learned report, or assessment conducted by Crown Law
following Harris's perjury conviction in September 2017, relating to the use of informant evidence
in criminal prosecutions generally.
3. Any ministerial briefing provided to the Minister of Justice regarding the Tamihere case, excluding
information subject to legal professional privilege in respect of active retrial proceedings.
4. Any correspondence between Crown Law and New Zealand Police regarding changes to practice or
policy on the use of prison informant evidence following the Tamihere prosecution.
The information you requested relates to the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General’s
constitutional roles as Law Officers of the Crown. The Attorney and Solicitor-General, in this
capacity, are not subject to the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act)
.1 The work that the Crown
Law Office does to assist them with their Law Officer role is also not subject to the Act
.2 In particular,
that law officer function includes the Solicitor-General’s oversight of public prosecutions and Crown
Law’s conduct of criminal appeals on behalf of the Crown (reflected in the duties of the
Solicitor-General under ss 185 and 322 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011). Pieces of advice,
briefings, or assessments regarding a criminal case or criminal appeal prepared by the Crown Law
Office is prepared pursuant to the law officer function.
We add that if this information did fall within the scope of the Act, we would have refused your
request under s 9(2)(h), on the basis that the information is subject to legal professional privilege,
and the necessity to maintain that privilege outweighs any public interest in its release. Legal advice
from the Crown Law Office to the Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, Ministers, or New Zealand
1 See Sir Brian Elwood
Request for legal advice provided to the Attorney-General (February 1999, Case No W41067). This can be accessed by
visiting
: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/resources/request-legal-advice-provided-attorney-general
2 See Sir Brian Elwood
Request to Crown Law Office for legal advice given to Minister (May 2000, Case No W44062). This can be accessed by
visiting
: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/resources/request-crown-law-office-legal-advice-given-minister.
Level 2 Justice Centre, 19 Aitken Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 2858 or DX SP20208, Wellington 6140, New Zealand | +64 4 472 1719 | crownlaw.govt.nz
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2
Police is subject to legal advice privilege. Litigation privilege may also apply. We consider there is
no demonstrably clear public interest in disclosing the information requested.
In respect of the information you requested at item 1 above, the current Solicitor-General’s
Prosecution Guidelines, including the guideline on Inmate Admissions, are publicly availab
le.3 Those
guidelines were updated in 2024. The earlier version of the guideline on Inmate Admissions,
published in 2021, is also publicly availabl
e.4
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
[email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Crown Law
Rebecca Thomson
Crown Counsel
3 Inmate admissions ǀ Ngā whāki ā-mauhere (as at 1 January 2025), available at
: https://www.crownlaw.govt.nz/prosecution-guidelines/inmate-
admissions.
4 Solicitor-General’s Guidelines for Use of Inmate Admissions (as at 6 August 2021), available at:
https://www.crownlaw.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Prosecution-Guidelines/Solicitor-Generals-Guidelines-for-Use-of-Inmate-Admissions-
Evidence.pdf.
10164315
