In recognition of the public interest, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn, took the unusual step of providing an update during the course of an inquiry and confirmed today that she would be summoning a number of individuals to appear and give evidence on oath to her inquiry into the release of NZSIS information to Cameron Slater.
Ms Gwyn said the Inquiry would be conducted in private in accordance with section 19(6) of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1996, and individuals would appear before her separately over a period of more than a week. She does not intend to name those summoned to give evidence until her report is published.
“I can confirm that all persons summoned will be required to appear under oath. I am adopting this practice in respect of all those who I interview for the purposes of this inquiry,” said Ms Gwyn.
Ms Gwyn said she was committed to an in-depth and robust inquiry. She confirmed that she has exercised her powers to order the production of significant quantities of documents and other material to assist in the inquiry.
“The scale of the inquiry is significant – it involves access to a variety of IT systems, documents, phone records and so forth. I then need to analyse that information, discard what is irrelevant, and then take into account the evidence from those summoned,” said Ms Gwyn
She said while she aims to complete the inquiry as expeditiously as possible, there is a significant amount of work to do.
“It is important that the inquiry is comprehensive, fair and independent. I will not be cutting any corners. I am not in a position to estimate the timing for the conclusion of the inquiry until all relevant information has been received and carefully considered,” said Ms Gwyn.
ENDS
Notes:
Ms Gwyn will not be conducting interviews while the inquiry is on-going.
Attached to this release is Schedule B to the IGIS summons which provides information for persons summoned to appear before the Inspector-General.