The Bill Of Rights Act 1990-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about right to safeguard Person from unreasonable search and seizure. Answer: In New Zealand, the Bill of Rights Act 1990 (the Act) confirms the fundamental rights and freedoms. It governs the rules about the relationship between the people and the state in the country. The Act sets out the minimum standards about how the people of the country expect to be treated in law and by the state with a view to ensure that the state exercises its powers in a responsible manner. Under section 21 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights 1990 (NZBORA) incorporates the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure which is also recognized by the International Human Rights Community (Clarke and Council 2016). According to article 21 every person has a right to be secured against search or seizure, whether of the property, person or correspondence or otherwise. This right to safeguard person from unreasonable search and seizure is concerned about safeguarding the interests of individuals against unreasonable intrusions by the State. The protection of privacy is the sole purpose of section 21 of the NZBORA 1990 and individuals who become subject to such unreasonable search and seizure shall be entitled to a remedy, the police cannot use any material obtained during such unreasonable search and seizure as evidence. The Search and Surveillance Act 2012 establishes the statutory framework for the application of the law in practice, in New Zealand. The purpose of this statute is to recognize the importance of the rights affirmed in the NZBORA 1990 and non-compliance with the provisions shall be unlawful (Harvey 2015). In the given circumstances, if Blake is subject to strip search, after serving a three year sentence, it shall amount to unreasonable search which is prohibited under section 21 of the NZ BORA 1990 (Gunasekara, Adams and Murata 2017). In other words, the commission of such unreasonable search shall amount to infringement of the human rights guaranteed under article 21 of the Bill of Rights 1990. However, the police officers must either be conferred with statutory power or must obtain the permission of the person who is being subject to such search and seizure. The police officers can only conduct search if they have a search warrant against the concerned person from a judge or any parliamentary statute has conferred them with the power to search without a warrant. Since in New Zealand, the Parliament is the ultimate decision-maker, the police cannot act upon the announcement made by the Prime Minister. Although it is a fact that effective measures should be undertaken to reduce the increased crime rate in the country, but that does not imply that the measures taken shall infringe the human rights and rights to privacy of any person guaranteed by the New Zealand Parliament (Duncan 2016). Moreover, under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, police officers can legally search a person only if the search is related to something that they are legally authorized to search for; they have a search power under the Act or if the person is arrested. Under the given scenario, if Blake becomes subject to unreasonable search he shall be entitled to certain remedies. Firstly, he must establish that he was subject to a search or seizure and that such search or seizure was unreasonable. This is because any search that is considered unreasonable under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 is likely to be considered as an unreasonable search or seizure. In Hamed v R [2011], the court held that besides exclusion of evidence, an unlawful search shall also be considered as an unreasonable search. Secondly, Blake may lodge a complaint before the Independent Police Conduct Authority. He is also entitled to bring a civil court case and claim monetary compensation under the NZBORA 1990. It is the responsible of the government to introduce measures to reduce crime rates in the country but it does not imply that people who have already served their punishment shall be subject to infringement of their human rights guaranteed to every citizen by the NZBORA 1990, in the name of community safety. Reference list Clarke, J. and Council, W.C., 2016. REGULATING CATS. Duncan, A., 2016. 'Well-Meaning, but without Understanding': Are Warrantless Police Information Requests to Third Parties Contrary to Section 21 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990?. Gunasekara, G., Adams, A. and Murata, K., 2017. Ripples down under: New Zealand youngsters attitudes and conduct following Snowden.Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, (just-accepted), pp.00-00. Hamed v R [2011] NZSC 101, [2012] 2 NZLR 305, [2011] 25 CRNZ, 326 at [50]. Harvey, D., 2015. Cybersearching: The Computer Search Provisions of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.MEDIANZ: Media Studies Journal of Aotearoa New Zealand,14(2)