NZ Council for Civil Liberties

November 8, 2024

Submission: Parliament Bill

The Parliament Bill makes funding of our legislature more independent of the government. However, it fails to bring parliamentary agencies within the Official Information Act. The Bill also increases the powers of Parliamentary Security, which could have real problems for our right to protest outside. Keep reading

Submissions

October 30, 2024

Submission: Improving Jury Trial Timeliness

The Council opposes the proposal put forward by the Ministry of Justice to reduce access to jury trials by raising the sentencing threshold from 2 years. Keep reading

Submissions

October 29, 2024

Submission: Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill

The Sentencing (Reform) Amendment bill makes a series of alterations to sentencing which run contrary to the principles of natural justice. The Council does not believe in the problem, and finds the proposed solution to be an unacceptable limit on our civil liberties. Keep reading

Articles

October 24, 2024

Watch the Police/ANPR webinar

Watch James from the Police Tech Assurance team discuss and answer questions about the Police use of automated number plate recognition (ANPR) from our webinar held on October 22nd, 2024. Keep reading

Events

October 3, 2024

22nd Oct 2024 – Webinar: Automated number plate recognition and the NZ Police

Automated number plate recognition (ANPR) has been around for a while now used by police, traffic management, and parking systems. But how is it actually used by the police? What are the issues with building up a large database of vehicle movements? Should the police be able to access ANPR data captured by others? Keep reading

Submissions

September 20, 2024

Submission: Here ora? Preventive measures for community safety, rehabilitation and reintegration (NZLC IP54, 2024)

The Council opposes preventative detention and post-sentence orders in principle. We reluctantly acknowledge that we should not abolish preventative measures at this time. The Council generally supports the Law Commission's Preferred Approach, but we do note some objections. Keep reading

Articles

September 5, 2024

Facing up to reality – New Zealand is failing on controlling facial recognition technology

Remote biometric identification is a new class of privacy threat and we're not doing enough to stop it being rolled out across the country. Keep reading

Submissions

September 4, 2024

Submission: Ia Tangata

We support adding specific protection for transgender and non-binary people, and those having an innate variation of sex characteristics, to the Human Rights Act. Keep reading

Submissions

August 30, 2024

Submission: Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill

The Council opposes the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill as an unwarranted intrusion on our civil liberties to implement a regime that fails in its stated purpose. Keep reading

News

August 29, 2024

Last minute changes make gang patch law even worse

The government adding even more unduly harsh restrictions to the gang patch law at the last minute is doubly disappointing. Keep reading

Articles

August 16, 2024

Watch the Police and Facial Recognition webinar

Watch Andrew Chen from the Police Tech Assurance team discuss and answer questions about the Police use of facial recognition from our webinar held in July. Keep reading

Articles

August 6, 2024

Douglas Ewen 1967 – 2024

Douglas Ewen KC, who died on 4 August, was a long-time member of the Council and served on its Executive Committee. Keep reading

Submissions

July 23, 2024

Submission: Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill

The Council opposes the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill as it infringes on our civil liberties while not providing sufficient justification for doing so. It seems to us that the bill is more about political signalling than improving our justice system. Keep reading

Articles

June 26, 2024

Keith Locke 1944 – 2024

Prominent NZCCL member, MP, and activist Keith Locke has died at the age of 80. Keep reading

Events

June 24, 2024

10th July 2024 – Webinar: Facial recognition and the NZ Police

Interested in how facial recognition technology (FRT) might be used in policing? What are the ethical considerations in using FRT … Keep reading “10th July 2024 – Webinar: Facial recognition and the NZ Police”

Submissions

June 19, 2024

Submission: Future Census

The Council calls for this consultation to be scrapped. Stats NZ is proposing a fundamental change to a cornerstone of our system of government. They are running a sham consultation on it, having provided no data and having admitted that they do not have evidence that its proposal will work. Keep reading

Submissions

May 29, 2024

Submission: Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill

The Council opposes this bill as the intended purpose is insufficient to justify breaching our international human rights obligations. Keep reading

Submissions

May 27, 2024

Submission: Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill

The Council has long opposed the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982, which we have described as unjust and racist. Therefore the Council supports the Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill. Keep reading

Articles

May 22, 2024

Watch the Physical Privacy in Prison webinar

Watch Anna Smart, the winner of the 2023 NZCCL VUW Law Essay Prize, present their work and answer questions at our webinar held in April. Keep reading

Blog Posts / News

May 17, 2024

Our Privacy Act rights and Stats Integrated Data Infrastructure

The Council has written to the Government Statistician about Stats NZ's refusal to provide people with copies of the information it holds on them in the Integrated Data Infrastructure. We think this is a breach of the Privacy Act. Keep reading

Submission: Parliament Bill

Submission: Improving Jury Trial Timeliness

Submission: Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill

Watch the Police/ANPR webinar

22nd Oct 2024 – Webinar: Automated number plate recognition and the NZ Police

Submission: Here ora? Preventive measures for community safety, rehabilitation and reintegration (NZLC IP54, 2024)

Facing up to reality – New Zealand is failing on controlling facial recognition technology

Submission: Ia Tangata

Submission: Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill

Last minute changes make gang patch law even worse

Watch the Police and Facial Recognition webinar

Douglas Ewen 1967 – 2024

Submission: Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill

Keith Locke 1944 – 2024

10th July 2024 – Webinar: Facial recognition and the NZ Police

Submission: Future Census

Submission: Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill

Submission: Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill

Watch the Physical Privacy in Prison webinar

Our Privacy Act rights and Stats Integrated Data Infrastructure

Meeting dates for 2024

Submissions

Articles

Blog Posts

News

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NZCCL Mastodon Posts