The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 is

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 coun ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

legislation passed under the

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-led Labour government. Enacted following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in the

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, the Act was designed to better address contemporary

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

issues, both domestically and abroad. Until May 2019, the Act had not been formally used in a prosecution; however there were several failed attempts by

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to do so. Many individuals and organisations have however been designated as "Terrorist entities" under the Act's provisions, in line with

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designations. The Act was amended in 2007. In May 2019, a charge of engaging in a terrorist act was laid against the alleged shooter in the

Christchurch mosque attacks On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

, under section 6A of the Act.

Background

New Zealand, considered a relatively 'safe' country, has experienced few terrorist incidents in its short history. Prior to 2001, incidents included the bombings of a rail bridge near Huntly in 1951, the Wanganui Computer Centre in 1982, the Wellington Trades Hall in 1984 and the

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vessel '' The Rainbow Warrior'' in 1985. Due to these incidents, New Zealand had already established prior to this act, "A comprehensive legislative and substantive counter-terrorist framework..." However the growth of international terrorism in recent years, alluded to by then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 N ...

in the bill's first reading, gave rise to the need to introduce new, "comprehensive" anti-terror legislation. The examples he gave were the Lockerbie bombing, the

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and the Nairobi embassy attack.

Passage

Introduction

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introduced the Terrorism (bombings and financing) bill to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

on 3 May 2001. Seen by many as simply the enactment of two recent international conventions, the bill was considered unremarkable and garnered widespread lukewarm support. The bill was then sent to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...

for review and submissions.

September 11 attacks and select committee

The day of the attacks, a special ministerial statement session was held at the beginning of

, in which

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, amongst others, gave their condolences for those killed, with Anderton moving a motion to express New Zealand's "shock and horror" at the events. What followed was a dramatic shift in pace at the

level, with many submitters feeling that they did not have enough time to review and make submissions on the increasing amendments that the committee was making in the wake of the attacks. Proponents of the bill claimed that this urgency was a matter of necessity given the threat posed by terrorism, however opponents claimed that this legislative process eroded the public's right to proper consultation. For instance in its submission on the bill the

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(Aotearoa), an organisation with consultative status with the

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, claimed to be, "dismayed at the extremely short length of time" and did not, "consider such a time period to be sufficient for...such a complex, and extreme, piece of legislation." This was echoed in the submission by the Human Rights Commission, stating that, "There has been limited opportunity for public discussion and preparation of submissions." Nonetheless, the

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, following several other governments around the world, broadened its own powers in the bill. Greener-Barcham claims that this was in order, "To be part of a broader anti-terrorist effort" and to, "Strengthen ties with 'like-minded states'" following the

and President Bush's call to arms. This shift in mentality was reflected in the bill's renaming from the Terrorism (Bombing and Financing) bill to the Terrorism Suppression bill.

Final readings and royal assent

Due to the alterations made in the select committee stage, the bill became hotly debated during the committee of the whole house. For example,

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proposed (unsuccessfully) an amendment which would have changed the bill's name to the, "Civil Liberties Reduction" bill. Despite strong dissent from the Green Party, the bill passed its third reading on 8 October 2002 with multi-party support and 106 votes in favour, with only the 9 Green votes against. The bill received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

and became an act on 17 October 2002.

Content of Act

Part 1

Part 1, "Preliminary Provisions," deals with the purpose of the act and its interpretation.

Part 2

Part 2, "Suppression of Terrorism," forms the substantive part of the act's offences. It also deals with some of the other most significant aspects of the act, the designation of terrorist entities, organisations and individuals, in sections 20–42. It creates the offences of: *Section 7: terrorist bombing *Section 8: financing terrorism *Section 9: dealing with terrorist property *Section 10: making property available to a terrorist entity *Section 12: recruiting members for terrorist groups *Section 13: participating in a terrorist group *Section 13A-D: harbouring terrorists, using plastic explosives, protecting or acquiring radioactive materials

Part 3

Part 3, "Miscellaneous provisions," deals primarily with the obligations on the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. These include to: *Section 64: Indicate if New Zealand will exercise jurisdiction under the act *Section 65: Give notification if an individual is taken into custody under the act *Section 67: Give permission for prosecutions under the act *Section 68: Communicate the outcome of any such prosecution The penalties within the act are severe, with most offences carrying either 14 years or life imprisonment (the harshest penalty available in

2007 New Zealand police raids

In October 2007, the NZ Police carried out several raids across

and arrested 17 individuals, charging them under the Terror Suppression Act for involvement in so-called "military style training camps." For the prosecutions to go ahead the

's consent under section 67 of the act was required. Under delegated authority from then

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Michael Cullen, then solicitor general

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announced on 8 November 2007 that he was: As a result of this decision, the charges under the act were dropped as were any form of prosecution of the vast majority of those arrested. Only

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s charges against four of the accused were eventually successful. Because of Collin's criticism that the act was, "Unnecessarily complex" and, "Incoherent" he recommended the act be sent to the

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for review.

Amendment Act 2007

Following the 2007 raids, the government introduced a major overhaul of the act (an amendment bill was already before parliament). The amendment was to correct inconsistencies with UN and

requirements and replace the role of the High Court in extending terrorist designations with the

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. It also introduced new "nuclear material" provisions. Of most significance was the amendment's redefining of several of the offences in the act: *Section 12 (recruiting members of a terrorist group) now simply required a designated terrorist entity (DTE) *Section 13 (participating in a terrorist group) introduced a recklessness component alongside knowledge, as well as only requiring a DTE In doing so, the threshold to commit either offence was considerably lowered, in large part to correct the issues highlighted by the solicitor general. The Terrorism Suppression Amendment Act 2007 came into force on 19 November 2007.

Criticism

The Act as a whole has been criticised by some as placing too much power in the hands of the

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. Whereas the court formerly made findings of fact, in regards to the designation of terrorist entities the responsibility has been given to the

. Such a designation carries with it strict penalties under the act in terms of association and membership. Some have claimed that this may lead to the act being used politically to quell dissidents rather than actual terrorists. Human rights groups have also raised concerns over whether convictions based on a wrongful designation will nevertheless remain upheld. The most recent periodic review of the act (in line with the review regime within the act) was cancelled in 2013 by then

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Judith Collins.

co-leader

Russel Norman Russel William Norman (born 2 June 1967) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. He was a Member of Parliament and co-leader of the Green Party. Norman resigned as an MP in October 2015 to work as Executive Director of Greenpeace Aote ...

claims this is because the government "is unwilling to risk further public scrutiny of the state's search and surveillance powers."Adam Dudding "Review of terror laws stopped" (15 September 2013) Stuff http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9166763/Review-of-terror-laws-stopped.

References

External links

Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
{{Terrorism in New Zealand Statutes of New Zealand War on terror Terrorism laws Terrorism in New Zealand