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Following public feedback, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Attorney-General approved the revised report in April 2009 that examines New Zealand’s human rights record. A copy of the report is available below:
The report was submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council for New Zealand’s review under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process on Thursday 7 May 2009.
As part of the UPR process, every county is required to submit a 20 page report on their human rights situation that has been prepared in consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and other government departments, coordinated the process to produce the national report. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission and Te Puni Kokiri provided valuable support to the public consultation process. Public meetings were held in August 2008. Following ministerial and department consultation, the draft national report was released for public comment in mid-February 2009 for a period of 4 weeks. Another series of public meetings and hui were also held in March 2009. Given New Zealand’s special constitutional relationships with the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, their Governments were also given the opportunity to provide comment on the draft report.
A wide range of views were expressed on the human rights situation in New Zealand. It was generally felt that while there have been some advances in recent years in New Zealand, there are still a number of outstanding human rights issues that need to be addressed and areas where we can do better. The summary reports of the public meetings and hui along with the written public submissions commenting on the draft national report are available below:
For more information on New Zealand’s first UPR review, please see the related links:
