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Animal Welfare Amendment Bill (Consistent) (Section 27) [2010] NZBORARp 2 (11 February 2010)

Last Updated: 5 May 2019

Animal Welfare Amendment Bill

11 FEBRUARY 2010

Attorney-General LEGAL ADVICE

CONSISTENCY WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990:

ANIMAL WELFARE AMENDMENT BILL

1. We have considered whether the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill (PCO 14159/7.0 (the

“Bill”) is consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (the “Bill of Rights Act”). We understand that the Bill is likely to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on Monday, 15 February 2009.

2. The purpose of this Bill is to improve the way offences relating to the ill-treatment and neglect of animals are prescribed in the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and to increase the penalties for this type of offending. Changes are also made to the provisions enabling a Court to disqualify a person from having custody of animals, and order forfeiture of animals to the Crown or to an approved organisation.
3. In our view, the Bill appears to be consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act. For completeness, we did consider a potential issue of consistency with s 27 (right to justice) of the Act. Clause 7 of the Bill increases the period within which a person disqualified from owning an animal cannot apply for a review. The period increases from 1 year to either a minimum disqualification period specified by the Court or 2 years. However, as a person is still afforded the opportunity to put their case to an unbiased decision maker and judicial review is not excluded, we do not consider that the right to justice is implicated.
4. We have concluded that the Bill appears to be consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act. This advice has been prepared by the Public Law Group and the Office of Legal Counsel.
   

Jeff Orr

Chief Legal Counsel Office of Legal Counsel

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 Animal Welfare 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.