KEY POINTS:
Law Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer says law around search and surveillance in New Zealand is a mess and needs urgent reform.
The commission's report, which took five years, into the law on search and surveillance in New Zealand was tabled in Parliament yesterday. The 500-page report contains 300 recommendations for change.
"The rule of law in our society depends on having certain and principled law enforcement powers. New Zealand does not currently have that," Sir Geoffrey said.
Sir Geoffrey said present laws were a mess, too restrictive and prevented police from getting evidence but also insufficiently protected innocent citizens' rights.
Powers for search and surveillance had not kept up with the times and did not properly recognise electronic information.
"As a result law enforcement does not have available the powers necessary to deal with organised criminal activity that has become increasingly sophisticated and which makes full use of available technology."
The report tried to find a balance, he said.
"We have tried to achieve a proper and principled balance between the rights of people to be free from the unreasonable exercise of coercive power by the state and the requirements of good law enforcement."
Recommendations centred around changes to law and procedures for search and seizure powers; reform of law enforcement powers to use surveillance equipment; more explicit powers to search computers and seize electronic data; and use of production and monitoring orders by law enforcement agencies.
Key recommendations were:
* That police should be able to seize evidence they find, even if it is not authorised by the search warrant.
* Clearer guidance on seeking a consent for a search.
* The ability to apply for warrants electronically in urgent cases.
* That search warrants could be issued only by judges and authorised officers with the proper training. At the moment a range of people, including JPs, can do it.
* That occupants were notified of a search even if they were not present when it took place. However, the judge could postpone or cancel the requirement if he/she believed that knowledge of the search would put someone in danger or set back an investigation.
* A power for police to enter and search if they believe material relating to an offence which carried a 14-year or more jail sentence would be removed or destroyed if they waited for a warrant. A similar recommendation was made for searching people and vehicles.
* A power for an enforcement officer to set up a crime scene and take measures to protect evidence.
* A power for police who are searching a place or vehicle to search anyone who arrives at it or gets out of it, if certain criteria are met.
* A power for customs officers investigating drug imports to conduct searches.
* A power for non-police enforcement officers such as customs and fisheries officers to search people they arrest.
The report recommended a single surveillance device regime to authorise the use of audio, visual and tracking equipment. Provisions to protect people's privacy - by not intruding in private buildings and to set time limits on how many hours a building could also be monitored - were recommended.
Warrants would be required except in some urgent cases.
The commission did not recommend a separate regime for computer and electronic device searches and seizures, but said there needed to be specific powers added:
* There should be specific powers for officers to copy material on computers and storage devices.
* Copying of data be expressly permitted.
* Extension of existing powers to require assistance from a person to access data.
The report said enforcement officers should be able to remotely access data when it was on a computer network that could be accessed from the place being searched and where the search has an unknown physical location, such as a hotmail internet account. In that case, the parameters of the search have to be specified.
The commission recommended that production and monitoring orders - when a person or firm is required to provide information - be available.
- NZPA
Police powers
Under the Law Commission's recommendations police could:
* Seize evidence even if it is not authorised by the search warrant
* Enter and search a property if they believe sensitive material could be destroyed
* Search people entering or leaving a place they are searching.
