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Search and Surveillance Act 2012

General provisions

5: Purpose

You could also call this:

"What the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 is trying to achieve in simple terms is: to balance law enforcement with protecting your rights."

The purpose of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 is to help you understand how the law is enforced in New Zealand. This Act aims to modernise the law of search, seizure, and surveillance to take into account new technologies. It also provides rules that recognise the importance of your rights and entitlements, as affirmed in other laws such as the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, the Privacy Act 2020, and the Evidence Act 2006.

The Act wants to make sure that investigative tools are effective and adequate for law enforcement needs, while also respecting your human rights values. This means that the law is trying to balance the need to enforce the law with the need to protect your rights.

The Act is trying to achieve this by providing a framework for the monitoring of compliance with the law and the investigation and prosecution of offences.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3330208.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Police and safetyRights and equality > Privacy
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"The government must follow this law too"

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6: Issuing officer may issue search warrant, or

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Part 1General provisions

5Purpose

  1. The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the monitoring of compliance with the law and the investigation and prosecution of offences in a manner that is consistent with human rights values by—

  2. modernising the law of search, seizure, and surveillance to take into account advances in technologies and to regulate the use of those technologies; and
    1. providing rules that recognise the importance of the rights and entitlements affirmed in other enactments, including the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, the Privacy Act 2020, and the Evidence Act 2006; and
      1. ensuring investigative tools are effective and adequate for law enforcement needs.

        Notes
        • Section 5(b): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).