46.— (1) Where a tribunal has completed its inquiry or has indicated to the responsible Minister that it is about to complete its inquiry, the responsible Minister shall, as soon as it is practicable for him or her to do so and subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance, by notice in writing given to the chairman of the tribunal, require the chairman to deposit the relevant material—

(a) with such person who is, or at such place which is, specified in the notice, and

(b) within the period specified in the notice for the purpose.

(2) For the purposes of assisting the chairman of a tribunal to perform his or her functions under subsection (4) or (5) in a manner that is as efficient, effective and expeditious as is practicable, the responsible Minister may set out in a notice under subsection (1) guidelines in respect of the performance of those functions by the chairman.

(3) Subject to subsection (5), the chairman of a tribunal shall comply with the requirements of a notice under subsection (1) (including any guidelines set out in the notice) given to the chairman in respect of the relevant material.

(4) The chairman of a tribunal may, in the course of complying with the requirements of a notice under subsection (1) given to the chairman in respect of the relevant material, and after having regard to section 47, cause that material to be accompanied by his or her—

(a) opinion in writing as to which parts of that material, if any, need, in particular, to be considered for the purposes of section 47(2), and

(b) reasons in writing for holding the opinion referred to in paragraph (a).

(5) Subject to subsection (6), the chairman of a tribunal to whom a notice under subsection (1) has been given in respect of the relevant material may, with the consent of the responsible Minister, return any part of that material to the person who gave the part concerned to the tribunal if—

(a) the chairman is satisfied that—

(i) the retention of the part concerned is not necessary in order to understand any of the following:

(I) any of the proceedings of the tribunal;

(II) any interim report of the tribunal;

(III) the final report of the tribunal;

and

(ii) the part has little, if any, historical worth or relevance to either—

(I) the matter that the tribunal was established to inquire into, or

(II) the findings of the tribunal,

and

(b) the chairman—

(i) has prepared a record which gives a general description of the part of the relevant material concerned, specifies the name and address of the person to whom the part is to be returned and specifies the basis or bases on which the chairman is, in respect of that part, satisfied as described in paragraph (a), and

(ii) ensures that such record accompanies the relevant material which is not returned to any person pursuant to this subsection.

(6) Where the chairman of a tribunal would, pursuant to subsection (5), return a part of the relevant material to the person who gave the part concerned to the tribunal but for the fact that—

(a) the person has declined to accept the return of the part, or

(b) the whereabouts of the person cannot be reasonably ascertained,

then—

(i) the chairman may, with the consent of the responsible Minister, cause the part to be disposed of in such manner as the chairman thinks proper, and

(ii) the chairman shall—

(I) prepare a record which gives a general description of the part, specifies the name and address of the person who has declined to accept the return of the part (if paragraph (a) is applicable), specifies the name of the person to whom it is sought to return the part but whose whereabouts cannot be reasonably ascertained (if paragraph (b) is applicable), specifies the basis or bases on which the chairman is, in respect of that part, satisfied as described in paragraph (a) of subsection (5) and specifies the manner of disposal of the part, and

(II) ensure that such record accompanies the relevant material which is not returned to any person pursuant to subsection (5) or otherwise disposed of pursuant to this subsection.

(7) Where a tribunal has ceased to be seized of the relevant material (whether pursuant to the provisions of this section or otherwise), nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the responsible Minister, or another Minister of the Government for the time being responsible for the storage of the material, from causing the material to be deposited from time to time with such person, or at such place, as the responsible Minister, or that other Minister of the Government, as the case may be, thinks proper.