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Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (Consistent) (Section 21) [2006] NZBORARp 46 (17 October 2006)
Last Updated: 12 January 2019
Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill
17 October 2006 Attorney-General
LEGAL ADVICE
CONSISTENCY WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990: STUDENT LOAN SCHEME
AMENDMENT BILL
- We
have considered whether the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (‘the
Bill’), (PCO 7099/5) is consistent with the New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act
1990 (‘the Bill of Rights Act’). We understand that this Bill will
be considered by the Cabinet
Legislation Committee at its meeting on 26 October
2006.
- We
understand that the Bill is likely to be subject to further amendments before it
is submitted to Cabinet, and we will provide you
with further advice should this
prove necessary.
- The
Bill amends the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 (‘the Act’), which
provides for the assessment and collection of loan
payments under the student
loan scheme. The Bill, inter alia, extends the amnesty on student loan
penalties, and redefines ‘borrowers overseas’.
- The
Bill also provides the Commissioner with access to the information recording
system used by the New Zealand Customs Service to
store arrival or departure
information.
Section 21: Unreasonable Search and Seizure
- Clause
36 of the Bill provides the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department with
direct access to any information recording system
used by the New Zealand
Customs Service to store arrival or departure information. The purpose of these
provisions is to assist the
Commissioner to verify:
- borrowers’
entitlements to a full interest write-off
- whether
borrowers are New Zealand based or overseas based
- whether
borrowers are resident or non-resident.
- We
have considered whether these provisions are consistent with section 21 of the
Bill of Rights Act, which provides the right to
be secure against unreasonable
search and seizure. In our opinion, the search powers accorded to the
Commissioner are reasonable
in terms of section 21. The Bill provides the
following protections on the use of the search power:
- the Commissioner
may only search information relating to pre-selected borrowers;
- the Commissioner
must not search for information other than arrival and departure information,
and must not search for information
about a person who is not a
borrower;
- the Commissioner
must take reasonable steps to ensure only persons with appropriate powers access
the database, and that a record
of access to the database is kept.
CONCLUSION
- We
have concluded that the provisions in the Bill appear to be consistent with the
rights and freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights
Act.
Melanie Webb
Manager, Ministerial Advice Office of Legal Counsel
|
Margaret Dugdale
Policy Manager, Bill of Rights/Human Rights Public Law Group
|
In addition to the general disclaimer for all documents on this website, please
note the following: This advice was prepared to assist
the Attorney-General to
determine whether a report should be made to Parliament under s 7 of the New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
in relation to the Student Loan Scheme Amendment
Bill. It should not be used or acted upon for any other purpose. The advice does
no more than assess whether the Bill complies with the minimum guarantees
contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The release
of this advice
should not be taken to indicate that the Attorney-General agrees with all
aspects of it, nor does its release constitute
a general waiver of legal
professional privilege in respect of this or any other matter. Whilst care has
been taken to ensure that
this document is an accurate reproduction of the
advice provided to the Attorney-General, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the
Crown Law Office accepts any liability for any errors or omissions.
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