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New Zealand Bill of Rights Act Reports |
Last Updated: 6 January 2019
Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Bill
9 May 2007
CONSISTENCY WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990:
BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES, AND RELATIONSHIPS REGISTRATION AMENDMENT BILL
Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Bill (‘the Bill’) (PCO 5516/29) was consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (‘the Bill of Rights Act’). That advice concluded that although the Bill gives rise to prima facie issues in relation to sections 19 and 21 of the Bill of Rights Act, the Bill appears to achieve overall consistency with that Act.
Section 14 – the right to freedom of expression
"Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form."
"Under s 14 of the Bill of Rights, freedom of expression includes ‘the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form’, but that does not confer any right to acquire information ..."
"The right to receive information prevents the state from restricting a person from receiving information that others may wish or may be willing to impart.
On the other hand, the right to receive information and opinions does not entail the right to insist on being given access to information and opinions."
"The Court reiterates that freedom to receive information, referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the Convention, ‘basically prohibits a government from restricting a person from receiving information that others wish or may be willing to impart to him’ (see the
Leander v. Sweden judgment of 26 March 1987, Series A no. 116, p. 29, § 74). That freedom cannot be construed as imposing on a State, in circumstances such as those of the present case, positive obligations to collect and disseminate information of its own motion."
"[i]t is ... more difficult to answer whether the right to seek information obligates the States parties in certain cases to guarantee with positive measures access to State or private
information ... such a right to be informed is still largely unrecognised in case law ...".[6]
Conclusion
Stuart Beresford Principal Advisor
Bill of Rights/ Human Rights Team
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Melanie Webb
Manager
Office of Legal Counsel
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Footnotes
1 [2000] NZCA 354; [2001] 1 NZLR 641 (CA).
2 The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act: A Commentary (2005) 319-321. 3 Ibid, at 321.
"... there is nothing ... which would turn s. 2(b) of the Charter into a key to open every closed
door in every government building and require a s. 1 justification to keep it closed"
See also Edmonton Journal v A-G (Alberta) (1984), 5 DLR (4th) 240 (Alta QB), affirmed (1984) 13 DLR (4th) 479 (Alta CA) (rejecting); Ontario (Attorney-General) v Fineberg (1994)
19 OR (3d) 197 (Ont Div Ct) (rejecting); Travers v Anderson [1993] 3 FC 528 (rejecting); National Bank v Melnitzer (1991) 5 OR (3d) 234 (Ont Gen Div) (rejecting); Blackman v British Columbia (Review Board) (1995) 95 CCC (3d) 412 (BCCA) (doubting).
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 Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration 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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