112 S e cti o n T w o – c iv il and politi cal rights Personal security is primarily maintained by the New being placed on human rights responsibilities. For exam- Zealand Police. The Policing Act 2008 repealed and ple, the police are providing training courses about the replaced the Police Act 1958 to update the law in relation code of conduct, leadership, ethical policing, and investi- to organisation of the police and the powers of members gating of adult sexual assaults. 19 of the police. The Policing Act takes account of national and international human rights standards as set out in the HRA, the BoRA, and various international conventions and covenants. The principles 18 on which the act is based are a cornerstone for successful policing, and ensure that the human rights of everyone in New Zealand are respected and protected by police. Family violence In 2003, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) recommended that New Zealand intensify measures to combat domestic violence and provide disaggregated statistical data on domestic violence. More recently, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed In 2007, a commission of inquiry carried out a full and concern about the continued prevalence of violence independent investigation into the way in which the against women, particularly Mäori, Pacific and minority police had dealt with allegations of sexual assault by women, and the low rates of prosecution and convictions members and associates of the police. The report found: for crimes of violence against women. 20 • There was evidence of disgraceful conduct by police In 2009, legislation  21 was passed to amend the Domestic officers and associates over the period from 1979, involving exploitation of vulnerable people. There was evidence of police officers condoning incidents involving inappropriate sexual activity and a culture of scepticism in dealing with complaints of sexual assault. However, there was no concerted attempt across the Violence Act 1995, the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Bail Act 2000, to improve and strengthen the domestic violence legislative regime. Key changes were to: • give the police the ability to issue ‘on-the-spot’ police safety orders organisation to cover up unacceptable behaviour. • allow the criminal courts to issue a protection order for • Police management lacked the policies, procedures the victim when sentencing an offender for domestic and practices necessary for dealing with misconduct. • Police did not have any code of conduct or guidelines violence offending • remove the statutory criteria that the police must to provide sworn police officers with clear guidance take into account when considering whether to arrest, about what constitutes appropriate behaviour. without warrant, a person who they have good cause • The public could not have confidence, at that time, in the calibre of police investigations into allegations of sexual assault by police officers and police associates. The Commission noted that policies and procedures to suspect has committed a breach of a protection order • reform the structures and penalties for contravening a protection order. for such investigations had improved in the past 25 The Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families, years but considered that further improvements were which advises the Government on family violence issues, needed. has initiated the ‘It’s not OK’ campaign in response to The inquiry’s report has had a significant impact on how growing concerns about the level of family violence in police operate, and has resulted in an increased emphasis New Zealand. The campaign is being led by the Ministry 18 These principles are set out in section 8 of the BoRA. 19 In 2009, the Office of the Auditor-General found that the police had responded in a committed manner to the Commission’s findings and that their work programme for responding had been comprehensive. 20 See CEDAW (2007), Concluding Comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: New Zealand, 10 August, CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/6. Accessible online at http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/459/77/PDF/N0745977. pdf?OpenElement 21 The Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill 2008