2Interpretation

1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

   assets forfeiture order has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   Central Authority, in relation to any foreign country, means the person or authority for the time being designated by that country for the purposes of transmitting or receiving requests made under or pursuant to this Act

   Commissioner means the Commissioner of Police

   constable has the same meaning as in section 4 of the Policing Act 2008

   convention country means any foreign country that is a party to a convention referred to in column 1 of the table in the Schedule

   criminal investigation means,—

   1. in Part 2, an investigation certified by the Attorney-General to have commenced in New Zealand in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed or to be likely to be committed, against the law of New Zealand:
   2. in Part 3, in relation to a foreign country, an investigation certified by the Central Authority for that country to have commenced in the foreign country in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed or to be likely to be committed, against the law of that country

   criminal matter means criminal investigations and criminal proceedings

   criminal proceedings means,—

   1. in Part 2, proceedings certified by the Attorney-General to have been instituted in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed, against the law of New Zealand; and includes the trial of a person for the offence and any proceedings to determine whether or not a person should be tried for the offence:
   2. in Part 3, proceedings certified by the Central Authority of the requesting country to have been instituted in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed, against the law of the country; and includes the trial of a person for the offence and any proceedings to determine whether or not a person should be tried for the offence

   document has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   evidential material has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012

   financial institution has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 1996

   foreign country means any country other than New Zealand

   foreign forfeiture order means—

   1. an order made under the law of a foreign country by a court or other judicial authority for the forfeiture of property that is—
      1. tainted property (as defined in relation to Part 3); or
      2. property of a person who has unlawfully benefited from significant foreign criminal activity; or
      3. an instrument of crime (as defined in relation to Part 3); or
   2. a foreign pecuniary penalty order

   foreign law immunity certificate means a certificate given, or a declaration made, by a foreign country or under the law of a foreign country, certifying or declaring that, under the law of the foreign country, persons generally or a specified person could or could not, either generally or in specified proceedings and either generally or in specified circumstances, be required—

   1. to answer a specified question; or
   2. to provide a specified document

   foreign order means a foreign forfeiture order or a foreign restraining order

   foreign pecuniary penalty order means an order, made under the law of a foreign country by any court or other judicial authority, imposing a pecuniary penalty in respect of benefits derived by a person from significant foreign criminal activity (whether proved to a civil or criminal standard); but does not include an order for the payment of a sum of money by way of compensation, restitution, or damages to an injured person

   foreign prisoner means a person who is being held in legal custody in a foreign country—an offence against the law of that foreign country

   1. pending trial for, or sentence for; or
   2. pursuant to a sentence of imprisonment for,—

   foreign qualifying forfeiture offence means—

   1. an offence in a foreign country that is punishable in that country by a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years or more (including an attempt to commit, conspiring to commit, or being an accessory to an offence if the maximum term of imprisonment for that attempt, conspiracy, or activity is 5 years or more); and
   2. an offence under the law of a foreign country that is a party to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at New York on 15 November 2000, if—
      1. it is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 4 years or more; and
      2. there are reasonable grounds to suspect that it is transnational in nature (as defined in articles 3(2) and 18(1) of that convention) and involves an organised criminal group (as defined in article 2(a) of that convention)

   foreign restraining order means an order made under the law of a foreign country by a court or other judicial authority that—

   1. restrains a particular person, or all persons, from dealing with the property specified in the order; and
   2. relates to—
      1. tainted property (as defined in relation to Part 3); or
      2. property of a person who has, or who may have, unlawfully benefited from significant foreign criminal activity; or
      3. an instrument of crime (as defined in relation to Part 3); or
      4. property that will satisfy some or all of a foreign pecuniary penalty order

   forfeiture order has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   highly restricted surveillance means—

   1. surveillance by means of an interception device; or
   2. trespass surveillance other than by means of a tracking device

   instrument forfeiture order has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   instrument of crime,—

   1. in relation to Part 2, has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009; and
   2. in relation to Part 3, means any property used, wholly or in part, to commit or facilitate the commission of a foreign qualifying forfeiture offence

   interception device has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012

   Judge means a Judge of the High Court

   judicial records means judgments, orders, and decisions of courts, and other records held by judicial authorities

   Minister means the Minister of Justice

   official records means documents held by government departments or agencies or prosecution authorities

   prescribed foreign country means any country (other than New Zealand) that is declared by regulations made under this Act to be a foreign country to which Part 3 applies

   prison has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Corrections Act 2004

   prisoner means a person who is for the time being in the legal custody of any person under the Corrections Act 2004

   process means any summons, warrant, order, or other document issued out of any court, or by any Judge, Master, District Court Judge, Justice, Community Magistrate, or Registrar

   profit forfeiture order has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   property has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   qualifying instrument forfeiture offence has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   requesting country, in relation to a request for assistance made under Part 3, means the foreign country that made the request

   restraining order has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   significant criminal activity has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

   significant foreign criminal activity—

   1. means an activity engaged in by a person in a foreign country that if proceeded against as a criminal offence in that country—
      1. would amount to offending—
         1. that consists of, or includes, 1 or more offences punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years or more; or
         2. from which property, proceeds, or benefits of a value of $30,000 or more have, directly or indirectly, been acquired or derived; and
      2. whether or not—
         1. the person has been charged with or convicted of the offending; or
         2. the person has been acquitted of the offending; or
         3. the person’s conviction for the offending has been quashed or set aside; and
   2. includes an offence under the law of a foreign country that is a party to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at New York on 15 November 2000, if—
      1. it is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 4 years or more; and
      2. there are reasonable grounds to suspect that it is transnational in nature (as defined in articles 3(2) and 18(1) of that convention) and involves an organised criminal group (as defined in article 2(a) of that convention)

   surveillance device has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012

   tainted property,—

   1. in relation to Part 2, has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009; and
   2. in relation to Part 3,—
      1. means any property that has, wholly or in part, been—
         1. acquired as a result of significant foreign criminal activity; or
         2. directly or indirectly derived from significant foreign criminal activity; and
      2. includes any property that has been—
         1. acquired as a result of more than 1 activity if at least 1 of those activities is a significant foreign criminal activity; or
         2. directly or indirectly derived from more than 1 activity if at least 1 of those activities is a significant foreign criminal activity

   tracking device has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012

   trespass surveillance has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012

   unlawfully benefited from significant foreign criminal activity means a person has knowingly, directly or indirectly, derived a benefit from significant foreign criminal activity (whether or not the person deriving the benefit undertook or was involved in the significant foreign criminal activity)

   visual surveillance device has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

2. A reference in this Act to criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation includes proceedings or investigations into the following matters:

3. revenue (including taxation and customs and excise duties):
4. foreign exchange control:
5. the forfeiture of property as a result of the commission of an offence:
6. the restraint of dealings with property or the freezing of assets that may be forfeited as a result of the commission of an offence:
7. imposing or recovering pecuniary penalties under, and restraining dealing with property needed to satisfy, a foreign pecuniary penalty order imposed as a result of the commission of an offence.

8. A reference in this Act to a benefit derived by a person includes a reference to—

9. a benefit derived, directly or indirectly, by the person; and
10. a benefit derived, directly or indirectly, by another person at the request or direction of the first-mentioned person.

11. Where—

12. any foreign country consists of a federation of States, or has more than 1 system of law, or has any 1 or more autonomous territorial organisations; and
13. more than 1 Central Authority is appointed for that foreign country,—
a reference in this Act to the Central Authority of that foreign country, in relation to a request made pursuant to this Act, means the Central Authority for that foreign country that, in the circumstances of the particular case, is the appropriate Central Authority to transmit or, as the case may be, receive the request.

14. A reference in this Act to the law of a foreign country includes a reference to the law of a part of, or the law in force in part of, the country.

15. In this Act, a reference to an offence of a political character does not include—

16. an offence—
    1. that is constituted by conduct of a kind referred to in a multilateral treaty to which New Zealand is a party; and
    2. for which parties have an obligation to provide to one another assistance in criminal matters; or
17. any offence in relation to which New Zealand has agreed in writing with another country that the offence will not be treated as a political offence for the purposes of the provision of assistance in criminal matters between New Zealand and that country.