The Human Rights Foundation promotes and defends human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad, through research-based education and advocacy.
Last week, the Human Rights Foundation filed a submission on the proposed amendments to the Crown Minerals Act 1991. These amendments are those intended to give effect to the ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration announced earlier this year. We made two points in our submission, namely that: Climate change is a human
Distinguished human rights advocate and lawyer Professor Paul Hunt has been appointed as Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Mr Little also announced the appointment of Dr Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo as Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner. Professor Hunt joins the Human Rights Commission from Essex University in Britain, but had previously served
The Human Rights Foundation’s Deborah Manning, who has advised families of people killed in police pursuits, says Māori may not be getting the same level of discretion as others when police choose to pursue a vehicle. The situation Police figures show Māori make up more than half of people warned or charged following police pursuits.
Parliament is considering sweeping changes to our 25 year-old privacy laws — but some fear they will only add to the long backlog of cases before the Human Rights Review Tribunal, Thomas Coughlan reports. The Human Rights Review Tribunal wants more resourcing before changes to New Zealand’s 1993 Privacy Act come into force. The Tribunal’s
It’s past time for a real rethink of the New Zealand police’s pursuits policy: An Auckland man driving a stolen car fled police at excessive speeds before crashing into a wall, injuring himself and seriously injuring a female passenger. Shortly after 3am on Wednesday, police spotted a stolen vehicle on Springs Road in East Tamaki
The National Party has played fast and loose with the facts during its campaign to deny an entry visa to the American LGBTQ activist Chelsea Manning. First, National’s immigration spokesperson Michael Woodhouse claimed “other countries” had refused Manning entry, because of her previous felony conviction for leaking classified documents. In fact, those “other countries” consisted
“Beyond unacceptable” delays for Human Rights Tribunal claims have gotten worse, a year after a co-chairperson was appointed to help clear the backlog. Stuff revealed in February that Human Rights Review Tribunal chairman Rodger Haines had repeatedly complained to successive ministers that ballooning delays meant “access to justice is being denied to almost all”. Since 2016, he
Over the last few months, we have urged Minister of Justice Andrew Little to make sure that the appointment of human rights commissioners is non-partisan by including opposition parties in the process. Now, the Minister has agreed to do so. In May, our chair, Peter Hosking wrote in Newsroom: Justice Minister Andrew Little has moved quickly on the report
The Human Rights Foundation has published two new pamphlets: a Guide to Protecting Yourself from Harmful Activity Online and a Guide to Your Rights when Dealing with the NZSIS. We have prepared these response in response to concerns raised by people in New Zealand’s Muslim community. We are also preparing credit card sized summaries for
Every 4.5 years, the United Nations Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva to do a stocktake of New Zealand’s human rights performance, measured against the international human rights we have signed up to, and our own human rights standards. The same process applies to other countries too – but 2019 is our turn. The process
