Northern Territory Numbered Acts Northern Territory Numbered Acts(1) This section applies for proceedings for an order under section 108 .
(2) The parties to the proceedings are:
(a) the applicant; and
(b) a protected person, or other person who may be at risk of retaliation, who may be affected by the variation or revocation of the direction to which the proceedings relate; and
(c) the ICAC; and
(d) if the Commissioner for Public Employment applies to be joined – the Commissioner for Public Employment.
(3) The Supreme Court must consider, taking into account the matters mentioned in subsection (4), whether to exercise a power:
(a) to hold the proceedings in private; and
(b) to prohibiting the publication of evidence or information that may identify a protected person or other person who may be at risk of retaliation.
(4) The matters the Supreme Court must take into account are:
(a) the extent to which the identity of a protected person, or other person who may be at risk of retaliation, is known; and
(b) the increased risk of harm to a protected person, or other person who may be at risk of retaliation, if their identity were more widely known as a result of the proceedings.
(5) In addition to subsection (3), the Supreme Court may hear evidence from a party in private, and without disclosing the evidence to another party, if the Court is satisfied that this is necessary:
(a) to keep the identity of a protected person, or other person who may be at risk of retaliation, confidential; or
(b) to protect the confidentiality of a current or possible future investigation by the ICAC.
(6) If the Supreme Court is considering hearing evidence from a party in private without disclosing it to another party, the Court may:
(a) notify the Inspector; and
(b) require any material relevant to the proceedings to be made available to the Inspector; and
(c) permit the Inspector to appear in the proceedings and, for the purpose of testing the appropriateness or validity of the direction the subject of the proceedings:
(i) ask a witness questions; and
(ii) make submissions.
(7) The Supreme Court may permit the Inspector to ask questions or make submissions under subsection (6)(c) in the absence of a party or a party's legal representative even if the party's interests may be affected by the subject matter of the questions or submissions.
(8) The Supreme Court may award costs against a party who is a protected person, or other person who may be at risk of retaliation, only if satisfied:
(a) the party issued the proceedings vexatiously or without reasonable cause; or
(b) the party's unreasonable conduct caused another party to incur the costs.