69. (1) For the purposes of the investigation of a complaint under this Chapter, a panel of inquiry shall have all the powers, rights and privileges that are vested in the High Court or a judge thereof on the hearing of an action and that relate to—

(a) enforcing the attendance of witnesses,

(b) examining witnesses on oath or otherwise, and

(c) compelling the production (including discovery) of records, including a record of proceedings in court or a transcript of such a record.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a summons issued on behalf of a panel of inquiry by the chairperson of the panel of inquiry or by such other member of the panel of inquiry as is authorised by the panel of inquiry for that purpose may be substituted for and is the equivalent of any formal process capable of being issued in an action for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or compelling the production of documents.

(3) Subject to any procedures in force and to the necessity of observing fair procedures, a panel of inquiry may receive—

(a) oral evidence given before the panel of inquiry,

(b) evidence by affidavit, or

(c) evidence in such manner (including by means of a live video link, a video recording, a sound recording or any other mode of transmission) as is authorised by procedures specified under section 52.

(4) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he or she—

(a) fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a summons issued by a panel of inquiry or to attend before the panel of inquiry at the time and place specified in the summons,

(b) while attending as a witness before a panel of inquiry refuses to—

(i) take an oath lawfully required by the panel of inquiry to be taken,

(ii) produce any document in the person’s power or control that the person is lawfully required by the panel of inquiry to produce, or

(iii) answer any question that the person is lawfully required by the panel of inquiry to answer,

(c) while attending before a panel of inquiry does anything that, if the panel of inquiry were a court of law having power to punish for contempt, would be contempt of court, or

(d) gives evidence before a panel of inquiry that if it had been given by the person in proceedings before a court would have constituted the offence of perjury.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (4) shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4)(d) shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to such fine or such term of imprisonment as he or she would be liable to if he or she were convicted summarily of the offence of perjury or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to such fine or such term of imprisonment as he or she would be liable to if he or she were convicted on indictment of the offence of perjury or both.

(7) In this section—

“record of proceedings in court” means a contemporaneous record of proceedings in court made, in accordance with rules of court, by any means, including any sound or other recording capable of being reproduced in legible, audible or visual form;

“transcript”, in relation to a record of proceedings in court, means a transcript of the record of such proceedings that is made by a person appointed by the Courts Service for that purpose in accordance with rules of court.