Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
This provision says everyone can gather together peacefully with others in public or private places.
The right to gather in public is vital for civic life and for democracy. Protests, marches, vigils and rallies are all protected under this section, as long as they’re peaceful.
The government cannot ban peaceful meetings, protests, or marches without a good reason. The State may regulate time and place, but it can’t shut down an assembly simply because it finds its message inconvenient.
Two significant peaceful protests or hīkoi, where thousands of New Zealanders took to the streets, were the 1975 Māori Land March led by Whina Cooper, and the 1981 protests against the Springbok rugby tour. Examples from 2024 include the nationwide street protests against the Fast Track legislation and the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, or March for the Treaty, against the Treaty Principles Bill.