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Digest No. 1660

Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill 2007 (2008 No 171-2) (Member's Bill)

Date of Introduction: 22 November 2007
Member: Chester Borrows
Select Committee: Law and Order
Date report presented: 29 September 2008
Published: 04 March 2008Prepared by John McSoriley BA LL.B, BarristerLegislative AnalystP: (04) 471-9626 (Ext. 9626)F: (04) 471-1250 Caution: This Digest was prepared to assist consideration of the Bill by members of Parliament. It has no official status.Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it should not be taken as a complete or authoritative guide to the Bill. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.

Purpose

The aim of the Bill as introduced is to provide power for the Wanganui District Council to outlaw the wearing of "gang insignia" in specified public places.

The Bills as introduced is described in Bills Digest No 1597.

Background

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990

The Attorney-General stated, in a report on this Bill under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 [1]   , that he had considered the Bill for consistency with the Bill of Rights Act and concluded that Clause 6 of the Bill (headed in the Bill as introduced "Prohibition of gang insignia") appeared to " ... constitute a limitation" upon Section 14 of the Bill of Rights Act (headed "Freedom of Expression"). The Attorney-General also concluded that that limitation could not be justified in terms of Section 5 of the Bill of Rights Act. Section 5 of that Act is headed "Justified limitations" and reads: "Subject to Section 4 of this Bill of Rights, the rights and freedoms contained in this Bill of Rights may be subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". Section 4 broadly provides that no other Act is amended or repealed by any contrary provision in the Bill of Rights Act.

Main changes to the Bill

Prohibition

The Select Committee has recommended that the offence be changed from wearing or displaying gang insignia to just displaying gang insignia in a specified place in the district and that that such displaying be subject to a requirement of displaying such insignia without having a "reasonable excuse" (amending Clause 6).

Public places and the bylaw

The Select Committee has recommended that the public places to which the Bill applies must be specified in the appropriate bylaw and that the prohibition may not apply generally to all public places in the district. It is also recommended that it be made clear that being in a public place includes being in a vehicle in that place. The Council must signpost the public places subject to the bylaw "where reasonably practical" to do so . Copies of the applicable bylaw must be made publicly available as if it had been made under Section 157 of hte Local Government Act 2002 (Clause 4, new subclause (2); inserting New Clauses 5A and 5B).

Bylaws must be reviewed

The Select Committee has recommended that bylaws made under this Bill must be reviewed not later than 5 years after they are made and within 10 years after they were last reviewed. A procedure for such reviews is set out. The Select Committee has also recommended that if a bylaw is not reviewed in the time specified, it is automatically revoked (New Clauses 5C - 5F).

Police powers in relation to vehicles

The Select Committee has recommended that the powers of a constable under the Bill in relation to the stopping of vehicles and the obtaining of details from person in those vehicles be stated in detail in the Bill (inserting New Clause 8).

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  1. Report of the Attorney-General under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition if Gang Insignia) Bill, Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, J.4.   [back]