63931 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice

63931 (2024). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice: Which of the 259 human rights recommendations from the Universal Period Review in Geneva, if any, were not supported by the Government?

Hon Paul Goldsmith: The Government accepted the majority of the 259 recommendations received at New Zealand’s fourth Universal Periodic Review. Of the recommendations the Government is supporting 168, partially supporting 12, and noting 79 of these recommendations. The recommendations that New Zealand supported are those where Government work is ongoing or is planned. For some recommendations, while we accept the spirit behind them, we cannot commit to the specifics of the proposal and, therefore, they were noted. Supporting further recommendations would depend on future decision-making according to New Zealand’s constitutional processes. The Government noted recommendations 1-4, 6-11, 14, 16, 18-35, 38-39, 58-60, 62, 72, 76-82, 84, 88-89, 99, 106, 107-111, 116, 138-140, 149, 152-153, 155, 160, 162-167, 219, 222-228, 234, 259. These 79 noted recommendations fell within a range of topics, including: - International Instruments - Adopting a written constitution - The law relating to hate speech - The minimum age of criminal responsibility - Pre-trial detention and remand practices - The minimum age of marriage - The Development of a national action plan on business and human rights and modern slavery legislation - Introducing pay transparency legislation - Developing a national plan of action to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The largest number of recommendations that New Zealand has noted relate to international treaties and conventions. New Zealand cannot bypass its domestic process of considering the implications of these instruments. We were, therefore, unable to support recommendations to “ratify/accede” to instruments or to “withdraw” reservations. However, New Zealand has agreed to consider acceding to the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New Zealand will also consider whether to remove existing reservations. The full list of human rights recommendations made by United Nations (UN) Member states, and New Zealand’s formal response is available on the UN website, here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/nz-index Responses to the recommendations, and actions the Government is taking, are also recorded in New Zealand’s new online monitoring tool, the Human Rights Monitor, here: https://humanrights.govt.nz/. The Human Rights Monitor was launched on Friday 27 September.