(1)  This section applies to a requirement imposed on a person under this Part to give an external intervener access to documents or information.

(2)  The validity of the requirement is not affected, and the person is not excused from compliance with the requirement, on the ground that a law practice or Australian legal practitioner has a lien over a particular document or class of documents.

(3)  The external intervener imposing the requirement may –

(a) inspect any document provided pursuant to the requirement; and

(b) make copies of the document or any part of the document; and

(c) retain the document for a period the intervener thinks necessary for the purposes of the external intervention in relation to which it was produced.

(4)  The person is not subject to any liability, claim or demand merely because of compliance with the requirement.

(5)  A failure of an Australian lawyer to comply with the requirement is capable of constituting unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct.

(6)  The prescribed authority –

(a) may on its own initiative; or

(b) must if directed to do so by the Board or Supreme Court –

suspend a local legal practitioner's practising certificate while a failure by the practitioner to comply with the requirement continues.