Section 42 — Resource Management Act 1991: Protection of sensitive information

42 Protection of sensitive information (1) A local authority may, on its own motion or on the application of any party to any proceedings or class of proceedings, make an order described in subsection (2) where it is satisfied that the order is necessary— (a) To avoid serious offence to tikanga Maori or to avoid the disclosure of the location of waahi tapu; or (b) To avoid the disclosure of a trade secret or unreasonable prejudice to the commercial position of the person who supplied, or is the subject of, the information,— and, in the circumstances of the particular case, the importance of avoiding such offence, disclosure, or prejudice outweighs the public interest in making that information available. (2) A local authority may make an order for the purpose of subsection (1) — (a) That the whole or part of any hearing or class of hearing at which the information is likely to be referred to, shall be held with the public excluded (which order shall, for the purposes of subsections (3) to (5) of section 48 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 , be deemed to be a resolution passed under that section): (b) Prohibiting or restricting the publication or communication of any information supplied to it, or obtained by it, in the course of any proceedings, whether or not the information may be material to any proposal, application, or requirement. (3) An order made under subsection (2)(b) in relation to— (a) Any matter described in subsection (1)(a) may be expressed to have effect from the commencement of any proceedings to which it relates and for an indefinite period or until such date as the local authority considers appropriate in the circumstances: (b) Any matter described in subsection (1)(b) may be expressed to have effect from the commencement of any proceedings to which it relates but shall cease to have any effect at the conclusion of those proceedings— and upon the date that such order ceases to have effect, the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 shall apply accordingly in respect of any information that was the subject of any such order. (4) Any party to any proceedings or class of proceedings before a local authority may apply to the Environment Court for an order under section 279(3)(a) cancelling or varying any order made by the local authority under this section. (5) Where, on the application of any party to any proceedings or class of proceedings, a local authority has declined to make an order described in subsection (2) , that party may apply to the Environment Court for an order under section 279(3)(b) . (6) In this section— (a) Information includes any document or evidence: (b) Local authority includes any community board, board of inquiry, public body, special tribunal, or any person given authority to conduct hearings under section 33 or section 34 or section 34A or section 117 or section 146 or section 202 . Subsections (4) and (5) were amended, as from 2 September 1996, pursuant to section 6(2)(a) Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160) by substituting the words “ Environment Court ” for the words “ Planning Tribunal ” . Subsection (6)(b) was amended, as from 1 August 2003, by section 95 Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23) by inserting the words “ or section 34A ” after the expression “ section 34 ” . See sections 109 to 113 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions.