There has been a significant amount of media coverage about our investigation into Westpac bank disclosing journalist Nicky Hager’s bank account information to Police in 2014. In the course of that reporting, some misconceptions have emerged. Because of the interest in the case, and the potential implications for future practice, we have noted some points of clarification and context below.

As a result of a complaint, Police began an investigation into a woman who worked at a district health board. The complaint alleged that she may have accessed DHB health records in order to locate children who had been the victims of crimes committed by her brother.

In an earlier post, we discussed the Human Rights Review Tribunal decision in the case of Andrews v Commissioner of Police. The Police had successfully defended a Privacy Act case that Mr Andrews brought against them. They applied for $7,500 to $10,000 costs, but the Tribunal declined to award any costs at all.

As a general rule in New Zealand, if you go to Court and you lose, you’re going to have to foot the bill – and not just your own legal bill but a chunk of the other party’s costs too.