can be presumed until the charge has been proved beyond reasonable doubt, ensures that the accused has the benefit of doubt, and requires that persons accused of a criminal act must be treated in accordance with this principle. The continued use of a reverse onus of proof places New Zealand at odds with the accepted interpretation of Articles 9 and 14 of the Covenant and impacts on compliance with the Convention. The Committee could raise the issue of the continued use of a reverse onus of proof given the decision of the Supreme Court in Hansen. Representation of women (Articles 2, 3, 25 & 26) In 2010, the Committee expressed concern about the low representation of women in high-level and managerial positions and on boards of private enterprises and urged the State Party to seek ways to “further encourage the participation of women in high-level and managerial positions and on boards of private enterprises through enhanced cooperation and dialogue with partners in the private sector.”31 The Commission acknowledges that New Zealand women have made significant progress in many areas of the labour market and in professional and public life, in several senior constitutional positions and in local and national politics. New Zealand also ranks highly in international measures, although it has recently slightly declined in the global equality report,32 indicating the fragility of some of the gains made and the extent of the structural gender inequalities that remain. The Commission has produced for the past ten years a biennial Census which shows that representation of women at governance level in government appointed statutory bodies has slipped slightly to 41.5%, down from 42%.33 This follows New Zealand’s commitment at Beijing in 1995 by former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley of a target of 50 percent women’s representation to be achieved in 2000. Because this was not achieved, the target for government appointments of women was then extended by the Government to 2010. However, in 2012 the Government introduced a sliding, lower target which is of considerable concern to the Commission. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs Statement of Intent 2012-2015 states that the percentage of appointees to state sector boards who are women will increase from 41 % to 45% by 2015. The New Zealand Government committed to gender equality of 50/50 at Beijing more than 12 years ago, but is now targeting five percent less. The Commission would ask the Committee to comment on the soft and sliding target setting by the State Party, which breaches both the spirit and the intent of the “equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights” in the ICCPR. Of equal concern is the target set by New Zealand for corporate sector representation of women in governance. The Ministry has set the following indicator: The percentage of appointees to boards of the top 100 companies on the NZSX who are women will climb from 9% to at least 10% by 2015. Given that the Commission’s Census report has indicated at least a one % gain every year for the past ten years to reach 9.32% in 2010 of women in the top 100 companies by market capitalisation, the 10 percent indicator is disappointing to say the least. It comes at a time when there is considerable civil society activity in mentoring, leadership development and sector accelerator programmes for women 31 CCPR/C/NZL/CO/5 Now 6th, down from 5th, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, 2011 33 New Zealand Census of Women’s Participation 2010 accessed from www.neon.org.nz 32 Page 11 of 35