Cabinet Policy Committee


Minute of Decision
POL Min (07) 22/8




Copy No:


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Police Act Review: Administrative and Miscellaneous Matters

On 19 September 2007, the Cabinet Policy Committee (POL), having been authorised by Cabinet with Power to Act [CAB Min (07) 34/9-14]:


Background

  1. noted that in August 2007, the Cabinet Social Development Committee noted that the Minister of Police intended to submit, in September 2007, a suite of Cabinet papers seeking decisions on new policing legislation [SDC Min (07) 13/3];

  2. noted that the submission under POL (07) 357 is one of a suite of papers on the Police
    Act Review, and should be read in conjunction with the papers under POL (07) 356,
    POL (07) 328, POL (07) 329, POL (07) 330 and POL (07) 331;

Proposals

Framework statute

  1. agreed that the Policing Bill be prepared as a framework statute, with matters of detail generally contained in regulations under the new Act or General Instructions issued by the Commissioner of Police;

Carrying forward current provisions

  1. noted that a large number of current provisions in the Police Act 1958 and Police Regulations 1992 perform a worthwhile function, and could be appropriately transited into a new Act or Regulations, in some cases with minor language updating;

  2. agreed to the following administrative and miscellaneous proposals:

    1. to retain and transit into a new Act or Regulations, with minor language updating, sections 38, 39, 40, 41, 44A-E, 57A(2) and (3), 58, 59, 61, 61A, 64, 65, 66(4) and (5) of the Police Act 1958, and regulations 5, 7 and 31 of the Police Regulations 1992;

    2. to not carry forward into a new Act or Regulations sections 62 and 63 of the Police Act 1958 and regulations 29 and 30 of the Police Regulations 1992;

Issuing guidance for Police employees

  1. agreed to confirm in legislation the Commissioner of Police’s ability to issue General Instructions for Police employees, with an updated deeming provision to cover electronic publication options, and clarifying the precedence General Instructions have over circulars, practice manuals or other policy guidance;

Assignment of ranks

  1. agreed to confirm in legislation the Commissioner of Police’s ability to assign ranks to Police employees;

  2. agreed to replace outdated references to “commissioned officers of Police” and “non-commissioned officers of Police” in legislation where they still occur, in favour of the more contemporary practice of referring to specific Police ranks (e.g. Senior Sergeant) where it is appropriate to do so;

Vetting practices

  1. noted that, although Police’s use of comprehensive pre-employment checks have a strong policy rationale, such practices do not have a clear legislative backing, and in fact raise issues of compliance with the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1993 and Privacy Act 1993;

  2. agreed to enable Police’s ongoing ability to conduct comprehensive pre-employment checks by consequentially amending section 25 of the Human Rights Act 1993 and including a specific provision in the new Policing Act, in order to provide that:

    1. it shall not be a breach of section 22 of the Human Rights Act 1993 for the Commissioner of Police to decline to employ a person due to his or her family status, within the meaning of section 21(1)(I)(iii) [being married to, is in a civil union or de facto relationship with, a particular person], or section 21(1)(I)(iv) [being a relative of a particular person] of the Human Rights Act;

    2. section 7 of the Privacy Act 1993 applies in relation to information collected, obtained, held, used, or disclosed by or to, New Zealand Police to enable the Commissioner of Police to decide whether to employ a particular person;

  3. noted that under the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, all historic convictions can be considered during pre-employment vetting of applications for sworn policing positions, but not for unsworn policing roles;

  4. agreed to strengthen Police’s current vetting practices by allowing the existing Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act exemption for Police to cover all Police employees;

Forensic databases

  1. agreed to provide legislative support for the establishment of secure databases, to enable identity confirmation of prospective Police employees and to eliminate staff who attend crime scenes, work in laboratories, or are in situations where they can inadvertently contaminate exhibits with their own fingerprints or DNA;

  2. agreed to ensure that only authorised use is made of biometric information on Police’s vetting and elimination databases, by providing legislative parameters which confirm that the samples provided:

    1. are for use by Police to positively identify applicants for employment, and verify claims of identity and non-involvement in crimes;

    2. can be retained on Police databases during the person’s employment for use as an elimination sample;

    3. will be destroyed at the person’s request if he or she ceases to be a Police employee;

Political neutrality

  1. noted that the principle of political neutrality is fundamental in policing;

  2. noted that there is a case for extending in legislation the same basic arrangements which apply to Police staff who wish to serve as Members of Parliament and translating them to any Police staff who wish to serve on territorial authorities and community boards;

  3. invited the Minister of Police to raise the issue referred to in paragraph 16 in her first reading speech on the Policing Bill, and to invite submissions on this issue;

  4. agreed that the government will consider at a later stage whether to support the inclusion of this issue in the Policing Bill;

Management of land holdings under the Public Works Act 1981

  1. agreed to amend section 44(2) of the State Sector Act 1988 to clarify that the Commissioner of Police is the Chief Executive of New Zealand Police, thereby enabling the Minister of Lands to delegate to the Commissioner the ability to effectively manage land held by Police on behalf of the Crown under the Public Works Act 1981;

Miscellaneous issues

  1. agreed to update in legislation the approach for designating what is an official Police uniform, vehicles, and other Police equipment, and protocols for allowing the use of such uniforms and equipment for theatrical purposes;

  2. agreed to amend section 22(5) of the Land Transport Act 1998 to remove the need for vehicle crash reports to be made to the nearest Police station, to facilitate such reporting using modern information and communications technology tools;

  3. agreed to make other sensible changes to non-Police legislation to reflect changes in descriptions of Police’s workforce and, where possible, introduce greater consistency to references to New Zealand Police;

Legislative implications

  1. noted that a Policing Bill holds a category 5 priority on the 2007 Legislation Programme (instructions to be provided to Parliamentary Counsel Office in 2007);

  2. agreed that the Policing Bill be binding on the Crown;

  3. invited the Minister of Police to issue drafting instructions to Parliamentary Counsel Office to give effect to the above proposals;

  4. authorised the Minister of Police to make decisions on technical issues which might arise in the course of drafting;

  5. invited the Minister of Police, in consultation with other Ministers as appropriate, to refer to POL any substantive issues that may arise in the course of drafting;

Publicity

  1. noted that the Minister of Police intends to issue a media statement, and make copies of all six Police Act Review papers publicly available through the Police Act Review website.




Janine Harvey

Secretary Reference: POL (07) 357




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