What a Crime Commission examination is
Crime Commission Act 2012 (NSW): the Commission may summon a person to attend an examination, give evidence on oath or affirmation, and produce documents or things — in aid of its investigations into serious and organised crime and the recovery of criminal assets.
The NSW Crime Commission is not a court and an examination is not a trial. It is an investigative hearing conducted in private, before a Commissioner or examiner, with counsel assisting putting the questions. There is no charge before the Commission, no plea, and no verdict. What there is, instead, is a set of compulsory powers that do not exist in the ordinary criminal process — and a body of statutory protections whose operation depends substantially on what is done before and during the appearance.
A summons may require evidence, the production of documents or things, or both. Failure to attend, or to produce what the summons requires, is itself a serious matter.
The right to silence is abrogated
In a police interview, a suspect may decline to answer. Before the Crime Commission, that right is removed. A summonsed witness must answer the questions put to them — the privilege against self-incrimination is abrogated by the Act. Refusing to answer, giving evasive answers, or giving false or misleading evidence exposes a witness to contempt proceedings or prosecution, each carrying the prospect of imprisonment.
What the Act gives in exchange is a use protection. A witness may object to answering — and where objection is taken, the answer generally cannot be used directly against the witness in criminal proceedings. The objection does not excuse the answer; it changes what may later be done with it.
What the protections cover — and what they do not
The direct-use protection is real, but its limits matter as much as its existence:
- Derivative use. The protection generally attaches to the answer itself, not to what investigators do with it. Evidence located because of a compelled answer may still be deployed. An examination can therefore advance an investigation even where nothing said is ever tendered.
- Offences against the Act. The protection does not extend to prosecutions for false or misleading evidence, contempt, or other offences arising from the examination itself. The compulsion to answer is not a licence to answer carelessly.
- Objection must be taken. The protections are engaged by objection. Knowing when and how to object — and maintaining the position consistently across a long examination — is central to the legal work.
- Documents and things. The position on compelled production differs from compelled testimony, and the differences are technical. They should be worked through before anything is handed over.
Secrecy and non-publication directions
Examinations are conducted in private, and a summons commonly arrives with a non-publication or non-disclosure direction: it can be an offence to reveal the existence of the summons, the fact of the examination, or the evidence given, other than to a legal adviser or as the direction otherwise permits. The direction reaches further than people expect — employers, business partners and family members are generally not within the exception.
Obtaining legal advice is the recognised exception, and it is the correct first step. Read the summons and any direction carefully before speaking to anyone else about it.
Why representation before the appearance matters
Dean Lenz has appeared in Crime Commission examinations, within a practice that spans the related jurisdictions where compulsory powers and criminal exposure intersect — coronial inquests, disciplinary proceedings and proceeds-of-crime litigation — and is briefed by solicitors whose clients have been summonsed.
The substantive work happens before the witness is sworn: analysing the summons and its scope, advising on the documents called for, preparing the witness for the discipline of compelled evidence — answer what is asked, object where objection lies, volunteer nothing — and identifying where the examination sits against any parallel investigation or charge. A Crime Commission appearance is rarely an isolated event; it is one move in a longer sequence, and it should be handled by someone who can see the whole board.
Because the Commission's asset-recovery functions run alongside its investigative ones, examinations frequently travel with restraining orders over property. That intersection is dealt with on our proceeds of crime page.
Crime Commission examinations — your questions answered
Can I refuse to answer questions at a Crime Commission examination?
No. The Act abrogates the privilege against self-incrimination: a summonsed witness must attend and answer. A witness may object to a question — which engages statutory protections over how the answer may later be used — but the answer must still be given. Refusal can be dealt with as contempt.
Can my answers be used against me?
Where objection is taken, compelled answers are generally protected from direct use against the witness in criminal proceedings. The protection has limits: it does not generally prevent derivative use — investigators acting on what they learn — and it does not cover offences arising from the examination itself, such as false or misleading evidence.
Can I tell anyone I have been summonsed?
Often not. Summonses commonly carry non-publication or non-disclosure directions making disclosure an offence, other than to a legal adviser or as the direction permits. Read the summons before speaking to anyone — legal advice is the recognised exception.
Do I need a lawyer at the examination?
A witness is entitled to legal representation, and the preparation before the appearance — scope of the summons, the documents called for, when objection lies, how the protections operate — is where representation does its real work. Dean Lenz has appeared in Crime Commission examinations.