Dear Crown Law Office,

I request the following information under the Official Information Act 1982 in relation to the use of prison informant evidence in criminal prosecutions, with particular reference to the Supreme Court judgment in Tamihere v R [2026] NZSC 22, delivered on 31 March 2026.

The date range for Requests 1, 2, and 4 is 1 September 2017 (the date of Robert Conchie Harris's perjury conviction) to the date this request is processed. The date range for Request 3 is 1 January 2020 to the date this request is processed.

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.

This request is not directed at case-specific prosecution strategy, privileged legal advice relating to ongoing retrial proceedings, or the identity of any informant. It is directed at systemic policy, internal review, and ministerial accountability material. Where documents are withheld in whole or in part, I request that the specific grounds under the Act be identified for each withholding.

This request has been filed via fyi.org.nz. Please send your response to this request via fyi.org.nz rather than directly to the requester.

Yours faithfully,

Lance D. Lavery