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New Zealand
Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 1993 an individual is
entitled to obtain any criminal record information that may be
recorded against them held by the NZ Ministry of Justice. This may be
obtained from the Privacy Assistant of the Ministry of Justice. If
an individual considers that the information is not correct, they
may apply to have the information corrected.
The type of extract available from the New Zealand Ministry of
Justice is:
Criminal Conviction Report:
Lists only convictions and sentencing. This does not include
Youth Court outcomes, but does include Youth Court convictions.
Application Procedure
There are three types of application forms available.
-
Priv/F1 – Request by Individual
This form is used to determine eligibility under the Clean Slate
criteria. The form may also be used to obtain a full record of you
criminal history held by the Ministry.
-
Priv/F2 – Request by Third party
This form authorises the release of the information to a third
party (e.g. another individual or agency) and is also processed in
accordance with the Clean Slate criteria.
-
Priv/F3 – Request by Third party (Section 19 Exception to
Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004)
This form provides for specific exceptions where a complete
criminal record is required.
Two of these (Priv/F1 and Priv/F2) can be obtained by
downloading (in Adobe’s Acrobat PDF format) from the New Zealand
Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.govt.nz/services/get-a-copy-of-your-criminal-record/application-forms (link
opens in a new window)
or by writing to request an application from the Privacy Unit of
the Ministry of Justice at the following address:
The Privacy Unit
Ministry of Justice
National Office
PO Box 2750
Wellington
New Zealand
An application form can also be requested by telephoning the
Privacy Unit on 00 64 (4) 918 8800 or by fax on 00 64 (4) 918 8974
or by email privacy@justice.govt.nz The
third application form (Priv/F3) can only be obtained by contacting
the Privacy Unit.
The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide your information
over the telephone. An application must be made in writing on the
correct form. Due to provisions of the privacy Act 1993, the
Ministry requires a signed authority from an individual before they
can access their information.
The application must be accompanied by proof of the applicant’s
identity. The New Zealand Ministry of Justice will accept only good
quality photocopies of the following documents:
Original identity documents should not be sent.
The New Zealand Ministry of Justice will accept completed
applications and photocopies of identity documents by fax.
An individual may authorise the direct release of the
information to a third party if they so wish by completing the
Priv/F2 application form. The third party must sign this form.
Cost
The New Zealand Ministry of Justice processes Criminal
Conviction requests free of charge.
Content of extract
The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 was enforced in New
Zealand on 29 November 2004. This legislation is designed to allow
individuals with less serious convictions who have been conviction
free for at least seven years and who meet all other relevant
criteria to put their past behind them. It will enable eligible
individuals to conceal convictions in most circumstances. There are
some exceptions when individuals’ convictions will continue to be
disclosed.
The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 is an automatic
scheme – therefore, it is not necessary to apply for a ‘clean
slate’. If you meet all the criteria for concealing previous
convictions you are eligible to have your convictions concealed by
the Ministry. Your convictions will be entitled to be concealed as
long as you continue to meet all the criteria. Those who do not
meet all criteria will be ineligible for ‘clean slate’ purposes and
will receive a criminal convictions report.
More information on the Act is available on the Ministry’s
website.
Turnaround times
The Ministry of Justice will ordinarily process applications
within 2 weeks of receipt, although under the Privacy Act the
Ministry of Justice has a maximum of twenty working days to process
applications. Please refer to www.justice.govt.nz/privacy
for current processing timeframes.
The CRB has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the
information contained herein is as accurate and comprehensive as
possible. In order to maintain the accuracy of the information, the
CRB will update the information periodically. However, the CRB
cannot be held responsible for the level of service provided by
overseas authorities. As such, please do not contact the CRB
regarding applications submitted to overseas authorities.
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