Attendance in a Personal Capacity

67 Officials have the same political rights as other members of society, including the right to make submissions to, and appear as witnesses before, select committees. Officials should be careful, however, that their attendance in a personal capacity is consistent with their professional obligations to the Government of the day. In particular, officials who appear in a private capacity should:

• Make it clear to the committee that they appear in a private capacity;
• Avoid commenting on policy issues related to their own department or agency or which they have been professionally associated with; and
• Advise their chief executive, or chairperson of the board, that they will be attending.