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207: Grounds for determining humanitarian appeal
or “How the Tribunal decides if you can stay in New Zealand for humanitarian reasons”

You could also call this:

“Victims can share their views when you appeal deportation”

When you appeal against being deported on humanitarian grounds, the Tribunal must consider any written statements from victims of crimes you’ve been found guilty of. These crimes are the reason you might be deported. The Tribunal also needs to look at any relevant written statements that victims have given to the Minister.

If a victim wants to, they can ask the Tribunal for permission to speak at the hearing instead of, or as well as, writing a statement.

If you ask, the Tribunal must give your lawyer or agent a copy of all the written statements from victims. You can also ask to see these statements, but you can’t keep a copy.

Sometimes, the Tribunal might not show you or your lawyer parts of the victim’s statements. They can do this if they think it’s needed to keep the victim safe.

The Tribunal can’t consider any parts of the victim’s statements that they’ve kept hidden from you.

In this law, a ‘victim’ means someone who has been hurt by certain types of serious crimes, as explained in section 29 of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.

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Next up: 209: Tribunal may make orders considered necessary on allowing appeal against liability for deportation

or “Tribunal can give instructions to stop deportation if you win your appeal”

Part 7 Appeals, reviews, and other proceedings
Appeal on humanitarian grounds against liability for deportation

208Right of victims to make submission on appeal

  1. In determining a humanitarian appeal by a person who becomes liable for deportation under section 161, the Tribunal must have regard to—

  2. any written submissions made to it by a victim of an offence or offences of which the appellant has been convicted and from which the liability for deportation arose; and
    1. any relevant written submissions made by a victim to the Minister under section 173.
      1. In addition to, or instead of, making written submissions under this section, the victim may, with the leave of the Tribunal, make oral submissions to the Tribunal at the hearing.

      2. The Tribunal must make available to a lawyer or agent acting for the appellant, on a request by the appellant, a copy of all written submissions made by the victim under section 173 or this section.

      3. The Tribunal, or a lawyer or agent acting for the appellant, must, on a request for the purpose, show the appellant a copy of all written submissions made by the victim under section 173 or this section. However, the appellant may not keep a copy of any of those submissions.

      4. Despite subsections (3) and (4), the Tribunal may withhold from the appellant and every lawyer or agent acting for the appellant (if any) either or both of the following if, in the Tribunal’s opinion, that withholding is necessary to protect the physical safety or security of the victim concerned:

      5. any part of the victim’s written submissions under section 173, whether or not that part was withheld by the Minister under section 173(4):
        1. any part of the victim’s written submissions under this section.
          1. Despite subsection (1), the Tribunal must not have regard to any part of the victim’s submissions that is withheld under subsection (5).

          2. In this section, victim means a victim of an offence of a kind referred to in section 29 of the Victims' Rights Act 2002.