FLA to Appeal Supreme Court Ruling on Integrity Commission Firearm Report

The Firearm Licensing Authority says it intends to appeal after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected the first of two applications tied to an Integrity Commission investigation into alleged corruption within the agency. The authority will also continue with the next stage of its legal challenge in September.

The FLA is seeking permission to pursue judicial review of the Integrity Commission’s investigative process. As part of that effort, it first asked the court to order the release of the complete report, which deals with allegations of corruption, misconduct and irregular conduct involving firearm and ammunition storage, as well as the granting of firearm licences at the authority.

After hearing submissions from the FLA’s lawyers, Supreme Court judge Justice Tara Carr ruled Friday that the document must remain confidential under the Integrity Commission Act until it is formally placed before Parliament.

Justice Carr said the court already had enough material to address the matters before it, making disclosure of the report unnecessary at this stage. She also found that the FLA knew the nature of the probe, the officials whose decisions were being questioned, and the basis on which it planned to challenge the process, including claims of procedural unfairness and illegality.

The judge rejected the FLA’s argument that the report was not covered by the Act’s confidentiality rules. She said reports prepared under section 54 continue to fall under the secrecy obligations in section 53(3) until they are tabled in Parliament.

Justice Carr also noted that the law makes unauthorised release of confidential investigative material a criminal offence. In those circumstances, she said it would not be proper for the court to order disclosure when Parliament had already set out a process for confidentiality and tabling.

However, she gave the FLA permission to appeal her decision. The authority’s lawyers are due to return to court on September 17, 2026, for the substantive application seeking leave to apply for judicial review of the Integrity Commission’s investigative process.