Digest No. 1778
Purpose
"This Statutes Amendment Bill consists entirely of amendments to Acts and is therefore an omnibus Bill that may be introduced by virtue of standing order 258(1)(f)"
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" ... Statutes Amendment Bills ... have been a feature of the New Zealand system for years, although in the 1950s, and again in the early 1990s, they went into abeyance for a time. They contain non-controversial amendments such as corrections of drafting errors, and a practice has developed that if in committee of the whole House a member objects to a clause, that clause is struck out of the Bill. [Statutes Amendment Bills] have once again become a regular feature of parliamentary agendas, although they are not always annual (introduced and passed in the same year)"
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Under Standing Order 259, omnibus bills to amend more than one Act may be introduced if:
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the amendments deal with an interrelated topic that can be regarded as implementing a single broad policy; or
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the amendments to be effected to each Act are of a similar nature to each other, or
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the Business Committee has agreed to the bill's introduction as an omnibus bill
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Main Provisions
T5 he Bill amends 30 Acts. The following seem to be amongst the more noteworthy.
Copyright Act 1994
The Copyright Act 1994 provides exemptions and protections for prescribed libraries.
The Bill amends the definition of "prescribed Library" to cover law libraries provided and maintained by the New Zealand Law Society because the old District Law Society libraries have now been taken over by that organisation under the reforms implemented by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (Part 10, Clause 56, amending Section 50 of the Copyright Act 1994, amending the definition of "prescribed library").
Electoral Act 1993
The Bill removes the obligation for a party to an intended marriage or civil union to provide information to the Registrar-General but requires the Registrar-General to provide details of registered marriages and civil unions to the Chief Registrar of Electors (Part 18, Clause 75, substituting Section 93 of the Electoral Act 1993).
Juries Amendment Act 2008
The Juries Amendment Act 2008 provides that a Court Registrar may permit a person summoned to attend as a juror on an occasion to defer that person's attendance to a time that;
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is within 12 months after the date on which the person is required to attend under the summons; and
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is specified by the Registrar; and
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the person has indicated would be more convenient.
The Juries Amendment Act 2008 already provides, however, that only one deferral is permitted and the Registrar must be satisfied, on a written application, that, because of one or more "specified matters", attendance on that occasion would "cause or result in undue hardship or serious inconvenience" to that person, any other person, or the general public.
The "specified matters" are:
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the nature of that person's occupation or business, or of any special and pressing commitment arising in the course of that person's occupation or business;
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that person's disability;
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that person's state of health, or family commitments, or other personal circumstances.
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The Bill provides that the Registrar may permit a person summoned to attend as a juror on an occasion to defer that person's attendance to serve as a juror to a time within a period that:
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starts at least 8 weeks, and ends no later than 1 year, after the date on which the person is required to attend under the summons; and
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is specified by the Registrar but lasts for at least 1 month; and
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the person has indicated would be a more convenient period for the commencement of any jury service of that person that may result from the person having been summoned to attend as a juror.”
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The amendments provide for the detailed procedural consequences of these changes, ensuring that:
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the person's details are included, in accordance with the jury rules, in any later panel that is compiled under the Juries Act 1981 for jury trials to be held in the court and that is so compiled at a time that enables the person to be summoned to attend for jury service at a time within the period specified for the person's deferred jury service;
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if no jury trials are to be held during that period, the person is no longer liable to serve as a juror as a result of the summons in relation to which the application for deferral was made (and that the Registrar must promptly serve on the person written notice to that effect):
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the jury rules may prescribe the method or methods of service on the person of a Registrar's written notice that the person is no longer liable to serve as a juror as a result of the summons in respect of which the application for deferral was made (Part 25, Clause 97, amending Section 11 of the Juries Amendment Act 2008 (not yet in force) by inserting New Sections 14B and 14C into that Amendment Act).
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National Parks Act 1980
The Bill provides that the Minister may do or authorise a person to do anything that the Minister considers appropriate for the proper and beneficial management, administration and control of a National Park and the Minister may impose any terms and conditions the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances, including conditions requiring the payment of fees. However, it is also provided that if there is a management plan for the park, the Minister must not do, or authorise a person to do, anything that is inconsistent with that management plan (Part 28, Clause 104, inserting New Section 51A into the national Parks Act 1980).
New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001
Section 20(1) of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 requires the chief executive in certain circumstances to grant a special disability allowance to the recipients of certain benefits for the purpose of defraying expenses arising from the hospitalisation of a spouse or partner. The allowance cannot be granted unless the spouse or partner is in receipt of a reduced benefit under Section 19(4) or (5).
The Bill amends Section 20(1) so that the requirement for the spouse or partner to be in receipt of a reduced benefit:
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continues to apply to a recipient whose spouse or partner is a patient in a hospital; but
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ceases to apply to a recipient whose spouse or partner is a resident assessed as requiring care and in respect of whom a funder is paying some or all of the cost of contracted care services under section 141 or 142 of the Social Security Act 1964
(Part 30, Clause 115, amending Section 20(1) of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001).
