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Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992

Requests by New Zealand - Assistance relating to surveillance devices

20A: Assistance in obtaining information by means of surveillance device

You could also call this:

"Help from overseas to gather information using spy devices for serious crimes"

Illustration for Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992

The Attorney-General can ask a foreign country to help get information using a surveillance device. You need to believe a crime has happened or will happen in New Zealand and that it's punishable by imprisonment for 2 years or more. The foreign country must have the person, place, or thing that will be watched. The Attorney-General can only make this request if the crime is serious enough. This means the crime must be punishable by imprisonment for 7 years or more. It can also be a crime listed in the Arms Act 1983, the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013, or the Crimes Act 1961. The Attorney-General must think the foreign country would likely use a highly restricted surveillance device to get the information. Then they can make the request if the crime is an eligible offence for that type of surveillance.

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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=LMS1524004.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Police and safetyCrime and justice > Criminal law
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"Getting help from another country to find something related to a New Zealand crime"

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Part 2Requests by New Zealand
Assistance relating to surveillance devices

20AAssistance in obtaining information by means of surveillance device

  1. The Attorney-General may request a foreign country to assist in obtaining information by means of a surveillance device if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that—

  2. at least 1 of the following applies:
    1. a place, vehicle, or other thing that would be the object of the surveillance is or will be in the foreign country:
      1. a person who would be the object of the surveillance is or will be present in the foreign country; and
      2. the information is or will be relevant to a criminal matter in respect of an offence against the law of New Zealand that is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 2 years or more.

        1. If satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the foreign country would be likely to collect any of the information by means of highly restricted surveillance (if it were to grant the request), the Attorney-General may make the request only if the offence is an eligible offence for that surveillance.

        2. In this section, eligible offence, for highly restricted surveillance, means—

        3. an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7 years or more; or
          1. an offence against any of the following provisions of the Arms Act 1983:
            1. for trespass surveillance other than by means of a tracking device, section 16(4), 16A, 42A, 42B, 43, 43AA, 44, 44AA, 44A, 45, 50, 50AA, 50A, 50B, 50C, 50CA, 50D, 51, 53A(2), 54, 55, or 55A:
              1. for surveillance by means of an interception device, section 16(4), 16A, 42A, 42B, 44, 44A, 45, 50, 50A, 50B, 50C, 50D, 51, 53A(2), 54, 55, or 55A; or
              2. an offence against section 25, 26, or 70 of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013; or
                1. an offence against section 308A of the Crimes Act 1961.

                  Notes
                  • Section 20A: inserted, on , by section 31 of the Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 39).