Reform measure in New Zealand passes first reading

The government has proposed significant changes in New Zealand's military justice system. Here is the Defence Ministry's press release:

Legislation to modernise the military justice system has passed its first reading today, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.

“The Armed Forces Discipline Law Amendment Bill modernises New Zealand’s military justice system so that it is fairer, more efficient, and more transparent,” Ms Collins says.

“The Bill will make our system easier to navigate, allowing commanders to focus on operational readiness in an increasingly volatile world.”

“The current military justice system is out-of-date, with no substantial changes made since 2007. These updates align it more closely with developments in the civilian justice system.

The Bill will introduce a Minor Discipline Sanction System for very low-level offending, such as being late for duty, avoiding the need for a Summary Trial. Serious, complex and sensitive offending will follow a new streamlined and independent pathway to Court Martial, overseen by the Director of Military Prosecutions.

New search powers will increase the New Zealand Defence Force’s ability to investigate alleged offending, while providing better protections for those subject to them. These include the power for officers in charge of Defence Areas to authorise searches within those areas, and for judicial warrants to be sought for sensitive searches of electronic devices and areas outside Defence Areas, aligning with Bill of Rights Act requirements.

The Bill extends the right to elect trial by Court Martial to most offences and introduces a new power to drug test members of the Armed Forces for disciplinary purposes.

“Our Armed Forces must maintain strong discipline so they are always ready to protect New Zealanders,” Ms Collins says.

“We hold our personnel to a high standard and they should expect the same from their military justice system.”

The supporting Explanatory Note and the bill text can be found here.

The key substantive changes made by the Bill are as follows:

• creation of a new minor disciplinary sanction system, which will provide a faster, more efficient, and more transparent way of dealing with very low-level offending (such as being late for duty):
• transfer of responsibility for serious, complex, or sensitive offending out of the chain of command to the Director of Military Prosecutions:
• extension of the right to elect trial by the Court Martial to all offences except for a subset that will be identified in Defence Force Orders:
• updating the existing search power under section 95 of the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971, together with the creation of new powers to search defence areas and carry out drug testing:
• establishment of a new search warrant framework providing judicial oversight of searches of electronic devices and providing new powers for a Judge to authorise the New Zealand Defence Force Joint Military Police Unit to search areas outside of a defence area owned, occupied, or used by a member of the Armed Forces, or to request documents from third parties:
• better alignment of bail provisions with those that apply in the civilian criminal justice system under the Bail Act 2000:
• provision for the Director of Military Prosecutions to appeal against certain summary trial decisions, in line with the appeal rights available to prosecutors in the civilian criminal justice system under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011:
• updating of powers to address disruptive behaviour and contempt of court to better align with the Contempt of Court Act 2019:
• application of the special procedures in Part 2 of the Security Information in Proceedings Act 2022 to certain proceedings in the Court Martial and Court Martial Appeal Court.