New Zealand Human Rights Commission Submission to the CAT in relation to NZ’s 6th periodic review inform Parliament about any provision in a Bill that appears to be inconsistent with any of the rights and freedoms affirmed therein. The Ministry of Justice and the Crown Law Office examine all draft legislation and advise the Attorney-General on any BORA implications. 32. The effectiveness of the section 7 process hinges on the extent to which Parliament is systematically informed and involved in the scrutiny process. 33. In 2014 Parliament’s Standing Orders were amended to require all section 7 reports to be referred to select committee15 for consideration.16 The Commission welcomes this amendment and believes that it will result in more systematic review and debate of the BORA implications of legislation. 34. Parliament may form a different view about whether a particular right or freedom is limited or whether the limitation is justified. However, that decision is informed by the opinion of the Attorney-General. 35. This means that despite the intent of the reporting mechanism to ensure that legislation complies with BORA a number of significant Bills pass which limit fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, Professor Janet McLean has noted that “in respect of all 27 negative reports that had been tabled as at May 2011, the government proceeded with the Bill, which “it openly acknowledged as limiting protected rights unreasonably in a way that could not be justified.”17 36. In 2010 the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act (“SPR Act”) was passed despite being subject to an adverse section 7 report. The SPR Act provides for full sentences, including life sentences, to be served without parole for repeat violent offenders convicted of a second or third specified serious violent offence. The Attorney-General found that the provision for a life sentence to be imposed for a third listed offence 15 Select committees are regarded as an important check and balance on the Executive, particularly in a Parliament that lacks an upper house or revising chamber, as is the case in New Zealand. Examination of bills for consideration after the first reading – except for those to which urgency is accorded – is a primary function of select committees. 16 SO 265(5). The recommended amendments to Standing Orders were debated and adopted by the House on 30 Jul, and came into effect on 15 August 2014: http://www.parliament.nz/resource/ennz/00HOHPBReferenceStOrders4/eb7c8b9e4a6c7aa88a47d14dc4100513b2557e60 17 Professor Janet McLean “Bills of Rights and Constitutional Conventions” (lecture, Victoria University of Wellington, 30 August 2011). 15