This article discusses the responsibilities of the various agencies involved in combating corruption in New Zealand. New Zealand is regarded as having one of the lowest levels of corruption in the world.

Agencies

Serious Fraud Office

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is the lead law enforcement agency for investigating and prosecuting serious financial crime, including bribery and corruption. In 2020, the SFO reported that it had seen a 40 percent increase in cases involving public officials, central and local government, in the past five years.

Electoral Commission

The

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

is responsible for the administration of parliamentary elections and promoting compliance with electoral laws, including those around the size and transparency of donations. If they believe the law is being broken, they refer the matter to the Police or Serious Fraud Office.

Independent Police Conduct Authority

The Independent Police Conduct Authority is an independent body that considers complaints against New Zealand Police and oversees their conduct. Under section 12 of th
Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988
"the Authority's functions are to: receive complaints alleging misconduct or neglect of duty by any member of Police or concerning any Police practice, policy or procedure affecting a complainant; and to investigate incidents in which a member of Police (acting in the execution of his or her duty) causes or appears to have caused death or serious bodily harm."

Ombudsman

The Ombudsman's role is to ensure citizens receive 'fair play' in their dealings with government entities, and they investigate where required. Over the years the powers of the Office have been extended to include education and hospital boards (from 1968), local government agencies (1975), requests under the Official Information Act (2003) and in 2005, all crown entities.

Conventions

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

has ratified several important international anti-

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

conventions such as the OECD

Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (officially Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions) is an anti-corruption convention of the OECD that requires signatory countries to criminalize bri ...

and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

International ranking

is regarded as having one of the lowest levels of corruption in the world.

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

's Corruption Perceptions Index scores 180 countries according to the perceived corruption of the public sector and then ranks those countries by their score. A high score earns a low ranking, and signals a perception of an honest public sector. In the 2021 Index, New Zealand earned the highest score of the 180 countries (88 out of 100 possible) and ranked first; for comparison, the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).

References

External links

Bribery and corruption page
at the Serious Fraud Office
Transparency International New Zealand
{{New Zealand topics

Crime in New Zealand by type