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Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992

Requests to New Zealand - Requests for surveillance device warrants - Requests

50B: Assistance in obtaining evidential material under surveillance device warrant

You could also call this:

"Help from NZ to get crime information using a surveillance device"

Illustration for Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992

You can ask the Attorney-General for help to get information under a surveillance device warrant. The Attorney-General can let the New Zealand Police apply for a warrant if they are satisfied that the request is about a serious crime. The crime must be punishable by imprisonment for 2 years or more if it happened in New Zealand. You must have good reasons to think the information from the warrant is relevant to the crime. There must also be good reasons to think the person or thing to be surveilled is or will be in New Zealand. The country asking for help must promise to handle the information correctly. The country must promise to keep or destroy the surveillance data and any information from it. They must also promise to do anything else the Attorney-General thinks is necessary, as outlined in the Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Act 2025. This helps the Attorney-General decide whether to assist the foreign country.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1524475.

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50A: Interpretation, or

"What special words mean in this law"

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50C: Applications, issue, and authorised activities, or

"Applying for a special warrant to use a surveillance device to help solve a serious crime"

Part 3Requests to New Zealand
Requests for surveillance device warrants: Requests

50BAssistance in obtaining evidential material under surveillance device warrant

  1. A foreign country may request the Attorney-General to assist in obtaining information under a surveillance device warrant.

  2. The Attorney-General may authorise the New Zealand Police to apply to a Judge for a surveillance device warrant under this subpart if satisfied that—

  3. the request relates to a criminal matter in respect of an offence against the law of the foreign country that would be punishable by imprisonment for a term of 2 years or more if the offence were committed in New Zealand; and
    1. there are reasonable grounds to believe that the information that would be obtained under the proposed surveillance device warrant if it were issued is relevant to the criminal matter; and
      1. there are reasonable grounds to believe that—
        1. a place, vehicle, or other thing that would be the object of the surveillance device warrant if that warrant were issued is or will be in New Zealand; or
          1. a person who would be the object of the surveillance device warrant if that warrant were issued is or will be present in New Zealand; and
          2. the foreign country has given appropriate undertakings about—
            1. retaining or destroying raw surveillance data, excerpts from raw surveillance data, and any information obtained from raw surveillance data; and
              1. any other matter that the Attorney-General considers appropriate.

              Notes
              • Section 50B: inserted, on , by section 40 of the Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 39).