48

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

their possession, custody, or care. Officers in charge
of public buildings will, in the event of repairs being
required, make a requisition for the same, and are not
to allow the buildings to fall into decay, or to become
permanently injured, for the want of such repairs.

19. Information not to be given.

No information out of the strict course of official
duty shall be given, directly or indirectly, by any
officer, without the express direction or permission of
a responsible Minister.

20. Communications not to be made to the Public
Press.

No officer shall make any communication, directly
or indirectly, to the Press, upon any matter affecting
the department in which he serves, or the business or
the officers thereof, or relating to the Public Service,
or his own official position or acts, or upon any
political subject or question connected with New
Zealand, without the express permission or authority
of a responsible Minister.

21. Applications of Officers, how to be made.

The application of any officer for promotion, leave
of absence, change of quarters, increase of salary, or
upon any other matter affecting his position in the
service, shall be made by the applicant himself, by
or through the head of his branch or department;
and if it be made by or through any other person, it
will be treated as irregular. Officers exciting Parlia-
mentary action with a view to increase of their
salaries, will be liable to summary dismissal from the
service.

22. Officers in the Civil Service not to take part
in Politics.

In order that officers of all ranks may be enabled
to render loyal and efficient service to Government,
it is necessary, and they are hereby expressly re-
quired and enjoined, not to take any part in political
affairs otherwise than by recording their votes at
elections; and every violation of this regulation will
be forthwith visited with such penalty as the circum-
stances of the case shall appear to demand.

23. Charges against Civil Officers.

Any officer against whom an accusation is made,
under the twenty-sixth section of “The Civil Service
Act, 1866,” may be suspended by the permanent
head of the department, or by any Minister, or by
the officer in charge of the office in which the accused
serves. When any complaint is made against any
officer, under the twenty-sixth section of the Civil
Service Act, timely notice of such complaint, and a
copy of the document reporting it, shall be given him,
in order that the complaint and any explanation
offered by the accused may be laid simultaneously
before the Board of Inquiry.

24. Boards of Inquiry: Time and Place of Meeting.

The members of any Board of Inquiry under
the Civil Service Act shall fix the time and
place of their sittings; and the Chairman shall
inform the accused, in writing, accordingly, and
require his attendance at the time and place fixed.
If the accused cannot be found, a notice requiring his
attendance may be sent by post to his usual or last
known place of abode; and if he do not attend, or
send a sufficient excuse for his non-attendance to the
satisfaction of the Board, the inquiry shall proceed in
his absence.

25. The Board to have Materials for Prosecuting
the Inquiry.

Any statement of the accused, and all other papers
relating to the subject of the inquiry, shall be sent to
the Chairman of the Board, who shall, by summons
under his hand, require the attendance of any person
whose evidence shall, in the judgment of the Board,
be material to the subject-matter of the inquiry, and
the Board may, if they think fit, administer an oath
to any witness.

26. Accused Officer may be examined.

The accused officer may in all cases be examined
by the Board, and his attention shall be called to any
points on which his explanation or evidence may be
deemed by the Board to be incomplete or obscure, or
inconsistent with any other part of his evidence, or
with the statement made by him as aforesaid. The
accused officer shall be allowed to cross-examine every
witness giving evidence against him before the Board.

27. Evidence of other Misconduct to be reported.

If, in the course of the inquiry, it should appear
to the Board that there is evidence to support an
accusation or accusations of breach of duty or mis-
conduct, other than the accusation or accusations of
which the accused shall have denied the truth, the
Board shall report the same to the Governor in
Council.

28. Notes to be kept.

The Chairman or other member of the Board shall
take full notes of the evidence given before them, and
of the information elicited by the Board during their
inquiry, and the written statements or documents
used in the course of the inquiry shall be attached
to the proceedings.

29. Reports and Notes to be forwarded through the
responsible Minister.

When the inquiry is concluded, the Board shall
forward their report to the Governor in Council,
through the Minister of the department at whose
instance they were appointed, stating their opinion
of the case, and adding any remarks they may think
fit to make as to any matters connected with the
inquiry. The notes of evidence and proceedings shall
be forwarded with the report.

30. Proceedings of the Board may be Private.

Except when otherwise directed by the Governor
in Council, the proceedings of Boards of Inquiry shall
be private.

31. Payment of Salary after Suspension.

Unless it shall be otherwise specially ordered by
the Governor in Council, if any officer be suspended
pending the investigation of any complaint or accusa-
tion against him, and he be afterwards dismissed from
the service, he shall receive no salary or pay from the
date of his suspension; and if he be reduced, the
reduced rate of salary or pay shall take effect from
the date of his suspension; and if he be fully
acquitted of the charges made against him, he shall
receive arrears of pay in full from the date of his
suspension.

32. Penalties.

The commission by any officer of anything for-
bidden, and the neglect or violation of anything
enjoined in or by these Regulations, shall be deemed
to be a breach of duty or misconduct that may render
it unfit that the officer should remain in the Civil
Service; and the penalty for such breach or miscon-
duct shall be dismissal from the service, or reduction
to a lower rank in the service, or to a lower salary
within the class, or deprivation of future annual
increment, or of leave of absence. All cases of
dismissal and reduction under these regulations shall
be notified in the Government Gazette.

33. Communications from one Department to another.

All communications from one department to
another shall be addressed by and to the responsible
Ministers of the said departments respectively, or by
their direction.