Articles

Chairperson's report for 2021 discussing issues and events in New Zealand, and summarising the actions of the Council. Keep reading “Chairperson’s Report 2021”

From a civil liberties perspective, there’s a big difference between encouraging people to get vaccinated, and the state mandating that people have to do so in order to keep their jobs. In this article we first talk about some of the ethical frameworks that can be used to analyse the choices that need to be made. Then we look at the human rights issues - how the requirements will interact with the Bill of Rights Act and the Human Rights Act, as well as the privacy issues. Keep reading “Vaccine mandates and certificates vs our liberties and rights”

We are pleased to announce the launch of Aotearoa Justice Watch, a tool that will allow people to speak out about poor treatment they have experienced in Aotearoa's policing and justice systems. Keep reading “Launch: Aotearoa Justice Watch”

NZCCL Deputy Chairperson Andrew Ecclestone has an opinion piece published in Stuff discussing the government's lack of openness around the upcoming implementation of vaccination certificates. Keep reading “Vaccination certificates raise questions of privacy and trust”

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties has today written to the Prime Minister expressing its deep concern about the secrecy surrounding the introduction of Covid-19 vaccination certificates. The Council has called for immediate publication of the information provided by the government to the events and hospitality sector, and the advice it has received from the Privacy Commissioner and officials who have looked at the human rights issues involved. Keep reading “Media release: Government secrecy on vaccination certificates is dangerous”

The NZ Council for Civil Liberties is deeply concerned about the government's plans to introduce Covid-19 vaccination certificates and mandate their use for access to certain events and venues. This is a major imposition on civil liberties and takes our country in a new direction; as such it should be done carefully and with adequate protections for civil liberties.

While we understand the government's need to move at speed, we still expect that any such moves should be taken after as much consultation with the public, civil society groups, and Māori groups as possible. This is not happening and the government has been refusing requests for information about their plans.

We have written to the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins to express our concerns and request this information. The text of that letter follows: Keep reading “Letter to PM and Minister re vaccination certificates”

The latest development is that the government has issued a new Public Health Order that tightens up the requirements and enforcement around both mask-wearing and record-keeping for the purpose of contact-tracing. Keep reading “Mandatory mask-wearing and record-keeping”

Video from our Facial Recognition and Human Rights panel discussion on 2021/02/23 featuring:

• Dr Marcin Betkier, Law lecturer, co-author of

… Keep reading “Video: Facial Recognition and Human Rights”

The New Zealand Government should not be helping Facebook to spy on New Zealanders. Yet by including Facebook supplied tracking … Keep reading “Media release: NZ Government enabling Facebook spying on New Zealanders”

NZCCL chairperson Thomas Beagle was a panellist with David Hood on the Pulse of a Nation session at the New … Keep reading “Video: Pulse of a Nation at New Echo Systems”

In December 2020, the Council took part in a closed evaluation of Aotearoa’s Government Chief Data Steward’s (GCDS) 2018 … Keep reading “Aotearoa’s Data Strategy”

Issues and Events in NZ

The Council started off 2020 well with our policy and strategy sessions putting us in … Keep reading “Chairperson’s Report 2020”

We are disappointed that the government recently passed a law that would have been highly contentious if it hadn’t been … Keep reading “Urgency and overreach is not democracy”

Today the government announced that, while it supported the use of encryption on the internet, it was proposing to fatally … Keep reading “Media release: Government’s dangerous statement about encryption doesn’t make sense”

The Child Poverty Action Group, Greenpeace, Forest and Bird, JustSpeak, New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International are … Keep reading “Joint calls for overhaul of OIA”

The 2020 election is approaching and the political parties are starting to make their promises. Rather than score the parties' … Keep reading “2020 Election: what we’d like to see from the parties”

We were recently asked if we would provide feedback on the government’s draft Covid-19 Public Health Response Bill. This … Keep reading “NZCCL response to the Covid-19 Public Health Response Bill”

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties endorses and co-signs the letter from the GOP Steering Committee about Covid-19 and its … Keep reading “Co-signed: Statement on the COVID-19 response from civil society members of OGP Steering Committee”

Douglas Ewen, barrister and member of the NZCCL, has written to Solicitor-General Una Jagose about what he views as unreasonable … Keep reading “Guest post: Bail can’t be subverted for COVID-19 purposes”

Some useful articles about civil liberties during a pandemic. Last updated 7 May 2020.

Civil Liberties

Coronavirus Tech Handbook – … Keep reading “Pandemic response – recommended reading”