New Zealand Law Commission Report on Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters

The Law Commission of New Zealand has published a final report on Modernising New Zealand’s Extradition and Mutual Assistance Laws.

The report recommends that the Extradition Act 1999 and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992 be repealed and replaced by more modern, simplified legislation. The Commission has prepared draft Extradition and Mutual Assistance Bills for the Government to consider

In terms of extradition, the Commission is proposing a two-category approach. There would be a simplified extradition procedure for requests from Australia and approved countries. Requests from any other country would be processed using the standard extradition procedure.  The main difference between the two would be that under the standard procedure the District Court would examine the strength of the prosecution case against the person sought to determine if there is a case to answer. The evidence for that inquiry would be presented in summary form. Under the simplified procedure there would be no evidential inquiry.

The draft Mutual Assistance Bill would broaden the types of assistance that New Zealand can provide to foreign countries in criminal investigations and prosecutions.

The report also examines the practices concerning these questions in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States.