December | 2015 | Transparency New Zealand

NZ ratifies UN Convention Against Corruption

December 6, 2015 |

Author transparencynz

At Last NZ ratifies UN Convention Against Corruption but is this an empty gesture or will corruption be dealt with seriously and not just concealed like it has been in the past ? Time will tell .

We fear that it will be business as usual in the Axminster system operated in NZ where corruption is habitually swept under the carpet.

News of the ratification received virtually no publicity at all instead we had a video and an article of a South Auckland man finding a live caterpillar in supermarket salad bag. Those of us who have grown up with fresh vegetables know that this a possibility if you don’t like bugs in your food go for GE .

So what are we going to do now that the necessary law changes have been made are we going to ignore them and continue to allow the courts to silence those who have asked lawyers to act according to law ? ( more on that later ) .

We are still asking questions with regards to the former crown law lawyer who is now acting in a situation of conflict of interest by turning a blind eye to the corruption of the animal welfare institute of New Zealand a fictional organisation which was given wide law enforcement powers because no one checked.

And transparent International New Zealand what are you going to do? provide more statistics to show how well we do while ignoring the elephant in the room ? we must keep the perception alive imagine if people were to embrace reality ? Disaster !

More to come in the mean time here are some links so that you can investigate what the ratification of the UN convention against corruption should mean .

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is a multilateral convention negotiated by members of the United Nations. It is the first global legally binding international anti–corruptioninstrument.

read about the convention here

Text of the United Nations Convention against Corruption English

STATUS AS AT : 05-12-2015 07:03:18 EDT

CHAPTER XVIII

PENAL MATTERS

14 . United Nations Convention against Corruption

New York, 31 October 2003

Entry into force

14 December 2005, in accordance with article 68(1).

Registration

14 December 2005, No. 42146

Status

Signatories : 140. Parties : 178

Text

United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2349, p. 41; Doc. A/58/422.

Note

The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 31 October 2003 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It shall be open to all States for signature from 9 to 11 December 2003 in Merida, Mexico, and thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York until 9 December 2005, in accordance with article 67 (1) of the Convention. The Convention shall also be open for signature by regional economic integration organizations provided that at least one member State of such organization has signed this Convention in accordance with its article 67 (2).

New Zealand ⁸

10 Dec 2003

1 Dec 2015

8.Upon ratification, the Government of New Zealand notified the Secretary-General of the following:
“… consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, [the ratification by New Zealand of this Convention] shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory…”

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (from this link)

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (external link) requires countries to take action in both the public and private sector to prevent corruption.

New Zealand signed the convention in 2003. It creates:

arrangements to strengthen international co-operation
arrangements to prevent the transfer of funds obtained through corruption
ways of monitoring a country’s compliance with the convention.

The convention requires countries to criminalise corrupt behaviour such as:

bribery and embezzlement of public funds
trading in influence
concealment and laundering of the proceeds of corruption.

When dealing with the proceeds of corruption, a country must be able to trace, freeze, seize and confiscate those proceeds.

New Zealand is compliant with most of the convention’s provisions. The Ministry of Justice is working on the final necessary steps to bring New Zealand into full compliance.

Beehive

Law society

Transparency International

United Nations Convention against Corruption Tools and Publications: