Policing Act 2008 | |
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New Zealand Parliament | |
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Royal assent | 16 September 2008 |
Commenced | (1) Section 130(2) comes into force on the commencement of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008. (2) The rest of this Act comes into force on 1 October 2008. |
Status: Current legislation |
The Policing Act 2008 state the functions and provide for the governance and administration of the New Zealand Police. It replaced the Police Act 1958.
The Police Act 1958 was extensively reviewed starting in 2006, after a two and a half year consultative process the Policing Act 2008 came into effect on 1 October 2008. [1] The process included the world's first use of a wiki to allow the public to contribute wording for the new Policing Act. The wiki was open for less than two weeks, but drew international attention. [2] In reaction to the wiki, the Parliamentary Counsel Office voiced concern over "a serious shortcoming of the wiki approach...if used too early in the process it risks constraining public consultation on policy options within the necessarily constricted and precise format required by legislation...secondly, contributors cannot be expected to know and work within the legal, procedural, and policy constraints that apply when the Parliamentary Counsel Office draft Bills" [3]
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The prime minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The incumbent prime minister, Chris Hipkins, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 25 January 2023.
The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the state's budgets and approving the state's accounts.
The New Zealand Police is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintaining public order. With about 13,000 personnel, it is the largest law enforcement agency in New Zealand and, with few exceptions, has primary jurisdiction over the majority of New Zealand criminal law. The New Zealand Police also has responsibility for traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement as well as other key responsibilities including protection of dignitaries, firearms licensing, and matters of national security.
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Gordon Frank Copeland was a New Zealand politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2008. He entered the House of Representatives as a list MP for the United Future New Zealand Party from 2002 but he resigned from the party in 2007. In March 2009, Copeland became Party President of The Kiwi Party, which he had co-founded with another former United Future list MP, Larry Baldock, in May 2007. Copeland stood for the Conservative Party in the 2011 New Zealand general election. Prior to entering Parliament he held a number of corporate positions before working as the financial administrator for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington.
The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal has existed as a separate court since 1862 but, until 1957, it was composed of judges of the High Court sitting periodically in panels. In 1957 the Court of Appeal was reconstituted as a permanent court separate from the High Court. It is located in Wellington.
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The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by the Crimes Act, but some are created elsewhere. All common law offences are abolished by section 9, as are all offences against acts of the British Parliaments, but section 20 saves the old common law defences where they are not specifically altered.
Crime in New Zealand encompasses criminal law, crime statistics, the nature and characteristics of crime, sentencing, punishment, and public perceptions of crime. New Zealand criminal law has its origins in English criminal law, which was codified into statute by the New Zealand parliament in 1893. Although New Zealand remains a common law jurisdiction, all criminal offences and their penalties are codified in New Zealand statutes.