New Zealand's seventh periodic report under the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Overview

Download: List of Issues (PDF, 221KB)

Download: New Zealand's draft Seventh Periodic Report under the Convention against Torture (PDF, 1.52MB)

Download: Overview of issues covered in the Report (PDF, 211KB)

The Government is preparing its seventh report to the United Nations on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

New Zealand is one of more than 160 countries that have ratified the Convention. The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment, and adequately address all occurrences thereof.

All countries that have signed the Convention have to report periodically to the United Nations Committee against Torture (the Committee). New Zealand’s seventh periodic report was due in May 2019. However, its submission has been slightly delayed due to the events in Christchurch.

The draft report responds to a list of specific questions that the Committee requested information on (see above link to List of Issues). It outlines the Government’s work to tackle issues such as violence against women, treatment of detainees, and issues with the criminal justice system.

The report focuses on the period from 2014 to its submission and is subject to a strict word limit of 21,200 words (excluding appendices).

Why are we consulting

The Government values civil society input throughout the reporting cycle. As part of the reporting process, the Government releases draft reports for public consultation. We would like your feedback to help ensure the report is a clear, accurate, and complete response to the specific issues raised by the Committee.

Next steps

We will consider your feedback before finalising the report and submitting it to the Committee. We will also update the report to include some recent developments.

Personal information and confidentiality

We will hold your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993.

We can accept submissions made in confidence or anonymously. Please clearly indicate if you want your submission to be treated as confidential.

We may be asked to release submissions in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1993. These laws have provisions to protect sensitive information given in confidence, but we can’t guarantee the information can be withheld. However, we will not release individuals’ contact details.