Section 13Part 0 —
Privilege and secrecy
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Except in the case of proceedings for an offence pursuant to section 14(c), proceedings shall not lie against the Ombudsman, the Unit, an investigatory body or any person concerned with the administration of this Law for anything done, reported or said in performance of the functions under this Law.
Information obtained by the Ombudsman, the Unit, an investigatory body or any person concerned with the administration of this Law in the course of or for the purposes of formal investigation shall not be disclosed except —
for the purposes of the investigation and of any report to be made on the investigation; and
for the purposes of proceedings (or possible proceedings) under sections 12 and 14;
and they shall not be called upon to give evidence in any proceedings of matters coming to their knowledge in the course of an investigation.
For the purposes of the law of defamation —
any communication made by or to the Ombudsman, the Unit or an investigatory body for the purposes of a complaint or investigation shall be privileged in the same manner as if it were made in the course of proceedings in the Grand Court;
any report of the Ombudsman, the Unit or an investigatory body shall be deemed to be authorized to be published by the Legislative Assembly; and
any communication between the Ombudsman and a member of the Legislative Assembly and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for the purposes of the Ombudsman's functions shall be deemed to be a proceeding of the Legislative Assembly.
The Ombudsman, the Unit, an investigatory body and every person concerned with the administration of this Law shall treat as secret and confidential all documents, information and things disclosed to them in the execution of any of the provisions of this Law, except that no disclosure —
made by the Ombudsman, the Unit, an investigatory body or any person concerned with the administration of this Law in proceedings for an offence under section 14; or
which the Ombudsman, the Unit or an investigatory body thinks necessary to make in the discharge of its functions,
shall be deemed inconsistent with any duty imposed by this section.