The Council opposes this attempt to limit our right to protest as a completely unjustified restraint on our civil liberties. If it should pass we make suggestions for improvements including tighter definitions and the requirement to give a warning before arrest. Keep reading “Submission: Demonstrations Near Residential Premises Amendment Bill”
Thanks to our NZCCL/VUW Law essay prize winners for taking the time to present their essays and answer questions in our webinars. These were recorded and are now available online. Keep reading “Essay prize webinars now viewable online”
Our submission to the Education & Workforce Select Committee in which we support the rights of young New Zealanders to take advantage of the internet, and suggest a few measures which would make the internet better for everyone. Keep reading “Submission: Harm to young people online inquiry”
Guest post from Mary Sagen pointing out concerns with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's report into the Foodstuffs facial recognition technology trial. Keep reading “Guest post: Serious accuracy issues identified in Foodstuffs facial recognition trial”
Come and hear essay prize winner India Bulman present her essay 'Kia Tangi Tonu Tātou: The Call for Constitutional Transformation in Aotearoa' Keep reading “5th August 2025: Webinar: Kia Tangi Tonu Tātou: The Call for Constitutional Transformation in Aotearoa”
Come and hear essay prize winner Emily McKechnie present her essay 'Overcrowded and Understaffed: How Aotearoa’s international human rights obligations are struggling to prevent ill-treatment of the growing remand population' Keep reading “16th July 2025 – Webinar: Overcrowded and Understaffed – Remand in Aotearoa”
The Council opposes the Social Media Age-Restricted Users Bill which would ban those under 16 from accessing social media. Keep reading “Media release: We can’t just turn off the internet for those under 16”
Announcing the winner of the NZ Council for Civil Liberties VUW Law essay prize for 2024, as well as a special prize for a second essay. Keep reading “NZCCL / VUW Law essay prize winner announced!”
Guest post discussing the significant issues with the IPCA's report ‘Thematic Review: The Policing of public protests in New Zealand’ which recommends changes to legislation and policing around public protests in Aotearoa. Keep reading “Guest post ‘Thematic Review: The Policing of public protests in New Zealand’: A Critical Response”
The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties is pleased to announce the launch of their civil liberties newsfeed and searchable database. Started in April 2024 it currently has over 500 articles listed with more being added all the time. Keep reading “Civil liberties news feed launched”
The right to protest is protected by the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
And this is why it's so disturbing to see the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) publish a report saying that people should have to apply to the government for permission before protesting. Keep reading “We reject IPCA call for government to issue protest permits”
It seems that authoritarianism and fascism are on the rise, with war and the oppression of civilian populations quick to follow. This possibility is exactly one of the reasons why we push back against the excesses of the state. Not only is government power against the individual prone to being misused, but its use reinforces the attitude that force is the answer to everything. Civil liberties and the protections of the NZ Bill of Rights Act are vital to maintaining a proper balance of power between the state and the people. Keep reading “Chairperson’s Report 2024”
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 “Submission: Improving Jury Trial Timeliness”
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 “Watch the Police/ANPR webinar”
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 “22nd Oct 2024 – Webinar: Automated number plate recognition and the NZ Police”
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 “Facing up to reality – New Zealand is failing on controlling facial recognition technology”
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 “Submission: Ia Tangata”
The government adding even more unduly harsh restrictions to the gang patch law at the last minute is doubly disappointing. Keep reading “Last minute changes make gang patch law even worse”
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 “Watch the Police and Facial Recognition webinar”
Douglas Ewen KC, who died on 4 August, was a long-time member of the Council and served on its Executive Committee. Keep reading “Douglas Ewen 1967 – 2024”