s.6Special advocate
6
Section 6Part 0 —

Special advocate

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The Attorney General may appoint a person to represent the interests of a party in any section 3 proceedings from which the party, and any legal representative of the party, is excluded.
A person appointed under subsection (1) is referred to in this section as appointed as a "special advocate".
A person may be appointed as a special advocate if —
the person is appointed to the Attorney General's Special Advocate's Panel in the United Kingdom and is nominated by the Attorney General; or
the person is admitted to practise in accordance with sections 3 and 4 of the Legal Practitioners Act (2022 Revision) and is nominated by the Attorney General.
For the purposes of this Act, section 15 of the Legal Practitioners Act (2022 Revision) applies to persons appointed as special advocates under this section.
The special advocate's role is to protect the interests of the excluded person in any proceedings referred to under section 3 or 9 when information or other evidence is heard in the absence of the public and the excluded person and the excluded person's counsel.
A special advocate may challenge —
the relevant person's claim that the disclosure of information or other evidence would be damaging to national security or endanger the safety of any person; and
the relevance, reliability and sufficiency of information or other evidence that is provided by the relevant person and is not disclosed to the excluded person or the excluded person's counsel and the weight to be given to it.
For the purposes of this Act, the special advocate is not a party to the proceedings and the relationship between the special advocate and the excluded person is not that of lawyer and client.
Notwithstanding subsection (7), communications between the excluded person or the excluded person's counsel and the special advocate that would be subject to lawyer-client privilege if the relationship were one of lawyer and client is deemed to be subject to lawyer-client privilege.
In respect of communication referred to subsection (8), the special advocate is not a compellable witness in any proceeding.
In this section, "excluded person" means a person or party who is not permitted to see the sensitive material and whose interests in proceedings under sections 3 or 9 are represented by a special advocate appointed under section 6 of this Act.
A special advocate may —
make oral and written submissions with respect to the information and other evidence that is provided by the relevant person and is not disclosed to the excluded person and the excluded person's counsel;
participate in, and cross-examine witnesses who testify during any part of the proceedings that is held in the absence of the public and the excluded person and the excluded person's counsel; and
exercise, with the court's authorization, any other powers that are necessary to protect the interests of the excluded person.

Defined Terms

special advocateexcluded person

Cross References

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