Section 27
Protection of informants
of Persons with Disabilities Act
(1)
No person who makes any notification under section 23 to the
Registrar, any authorised officer or police officer that a person with disabilities is neglected or ill-treated shall incur any liability for defamation or otherwise in respect of the making of such notification.
(2)
The making of any notification that a person with disabilities is neglected or ill-treated shall not, in any proceedings before any court or in any other respect, be held to constitute a breach of professional etiquette or ethics or a departure from accepted standards of professional conduct.
(3)
Any person appearing as a witness in any proceedings in any court or tribunal or before a person authorised by law to hear evidence —
(a)
shall not be compelled to disclose the identity of, or any information likely to lead to the disclosure of the identity of, any person who has made a notification that a person with disabilities is in need of protection; and
(b)
shall not be compelled to produce, and shall not produce, any report or document which identifies, or is likely to identify, any person who has made a notification that a person with disabilities is neglected or ill-treated.
(4)
Subsection (3) does not apply where a notification that a person with disabilities is neglected or ill-treated is tendered in evidence, or evidence in respect of such notification is given, by person who made such notification.
(5)
If in any proceedings before a court for an offence under this Act, the court, after full inquiry into the case, is satisfied that any person who has made a notification under subsection (1), wilfully made a statement which he knew or believed to be false or did not believe to be true, or if in any
Persons with Disabilities
B.L.R.O. 3/2022 21
proceedings the court is of the opinion that justice cannot be fully done, between the parties thereto without the disclosure of the name of the person who has made the notification, the court may require full disclosure concerning the person who has made the notification.