Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992

2 Interpretation

• (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

  Central Authority, in relation to any foreign country, means the person or authority for the time being designated by that country for the purposes of transmitting or receiving requests made under or pursuant to this Act

  Convention country means any foreign country that is a party to a convention referred to in column 1 of the table in the Schedule

  Convention country: this definition was inserted, as from 1 March 1999, by section 2 Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 15). See clause 2 Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 1998 Commencement Order 1999 (SR 1999/10).

  Convention country: this definition was amended, as from 18 June 2002, by section 3(1) Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 23), by substituting “referred to in column 1 of the table in the Schedule” for “specified in Schedule 1:”.

  Criminal investigation means,—

  • (a) In Part 2 of this Act, an investigation certified by the Attorney-General to have commenced in New Zealand in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed or to be likely to be committed, against the law of New Zealand:

  • (b) In Part 3 of this Act, in relation to a foreign country, an investigation certified by the Central Authority for that country to have commenced in the foreign country in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed or to be likely to be committed, against the law of that country:

  Criminal matter means criminal investigations and criminal proceedings

  Criminal proceedings means,—

  • (a) In Part 2 of this Act, proceedings certified by the Attorney-General to have been instituted in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed, against the law of New Zealand; and includes the trial of a person for the offence and any proceedings to determine whether or not a person should be tried for the offence:

  • (b) In Part 3 of this Act, proceedings certified by the Central Authority of the requesting country to have been instituted in respect of an offence committed, or suspected on reasonable grounds to have been committed, against the law of the country; and includes the trial of a person for the offence and any proceedings to determine whether or not a person should be tried for the offence:

  Document has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Official Information Act 1982

  financial institution means either a person within the meaning of financial institution as defined in section 3 of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 1996 or as defined in section 5 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009

  Foreign country means any country other than New Zealand

  Foreign drug-dealing offence means a foreign serious offence that consists of or includes conduct which, if it occurred in New Zealand, would be a drug-dealing offence within the meaning of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Foreign forfeiture order means an order, made under the law of a foreign country by any court or other judicial authority, for the forfeiture of property that is tainted property in respect of an offence against the law of that country

  Foreign law immunity certificate means a certificate given, or a declaration made, by a foreign country or under the law of a foreign country, certifying or declaring that, under the law of the foreign country, persons generally or a specified person could or could not, either generally or in specified proceedings and either generally or in specified circumstances, be required—

  • (a) To answer a specified question; or

  • (b) To provide a specified document:

  Foreign pecuniary penalty order means an order, made under the law of a foreign country by any court or other judicial authority, imposing a pecuniary penalty in respect of benefits derived by a person from the commission of an offence against the law of that country; but does not include an order for the payment of a sum of money by way of compensation, restitution, or damages to an injured person

  Foreign prisoner means a person who is being held in legal custody in a foreign country—

  • (a) Pending trial for, or sentence for; or

  • (b) Pursuant to a sentence of imprisonment for,—

  an offence against the law of that foreign country

  Foreign restraining order means an order—

  • (a) That is made under the law of a foreign country by any court or other judicial authority in respect of—

    • (i) Property that is or may be tainted property in respect of an offence against the law of that country; or

    • (ii) Benefits that have been derived, or may have been derived, by a person from the commission of such an offence; and

  • (b) That restrains a particular person, or all persons, from dealing with property:

  Foreign serious offence—

  • (a) means an offence under the law of a foreign country punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 years or more; and

  • (b) after the commencement of section 15 of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 2002, includes an offence under the law of a foreign country that is a party to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at New York on 15 November 2000 if—

    • (i) it is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 4 years or more; and

    • (ii) there are reasonable grounds to suspect that it is transnational in nature (as defined in articles 3(2) and 18(1) of that convention) and involves an organised criminal group (as defined in article 2(a) of that convention).

  Foreign serious offence: this definition was substituted, as from 18 June 2002, by section 3(2) Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 23).

  Forfeiture order means an order made under section 15(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Judge means a Judge of the High Court

  Judicial records means judgments, orders, and decisions of courts, and other records held by judicial authorities

  Minister means the Minister of Justice

  Monitoring order means an order made under section 77(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Official records means documents held by Government departments or agencies or prosecution authorities

  Pecuniary penalty order means an order made under section 25(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Penal institution

  [Repealed]

  Penal institution: this definition was repealed, as from 1 June 2005, by section 206 Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50). See clause 2 Corrections Act Commencement Order 2005 (SR 2005/52).

  Prescribed foreign country means any country (other than New Zealand) that is declared by regulations made under this Act to be a foreign country to which Part 3 of this Act applies

  prison has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Corrections Act 2004.

  prison: this definition was inserted, as from 1 June 2005, by section 206 Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50). See clause 2 Corrections Act Commencement Order 2005 (SR 2005/52).

  Prisoner means a person who is for the time being in the legal custody of any person under the Corrections Act 2004

  Prisoner: this definition was amended, as from 1 June 2005, by section 206 Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50) by substituting “legal custody of any person under the Corrections Act 2004” for “legal custody of the Superintendent of any penal institution”. See clause 2 Corrections Act Commencement Order 2005 (SR 2005/52).

  Proceeds of Crime Act means the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991

  Process means any summons, warrant, order, or other document issued out of any court, or by any Judge, Master, District Court Judge, Justice, Community Magistrate, or Registrar

  Process: this definition was amended, as from 30 June 1998, by section 7 District Courts Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 76), by inserting “Community Magistrate,”.

  Production order means an order made under section 69(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Property has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Property-tracking document has the same meaning as in section 67 of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Requesting country, in relation to a request for assistance made under Part 3 of this Act, means the foreign country that made the request

  Restraining order means an order made under section 42 of the Proceeds of Crime Act

  Serious offence means an offence against the law of New Zealand punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 years or more

  Tainted property has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

  (2) A reference in this Act to criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation includes proceedings or investigations into matters—

  • (a) Relating to revenue (including taxation and customs and excise duties); or

  • (b) Relating to foreign exchange control; or

  • (c) Relating to the forfeiture or confiscation of property in respect of an offence; or

  • (d) Relating to the imposition or recovery of a pecuniary penalty in respect of an offence; or

  • (e) Relating to the restraining of dealings in property, or the freezing of assets, that may be forfeited or confiscated, or that may be needed to satisfy a pecuniary penalty imposed in respect of an offence,—

  whether arising under New Zealand law or the law of a foreign country.

  (3) A reference in this Act to a benefit derived by a person includes a reference to—

  • (a) A benefit derived, directly or indirectly, by the person; and

  • (b) A benefit derived, directly or indirectly, by another person at the request or direction of the first-mentioned person.

  (4) Where—

  • (a) Any foreign country consists of a federation of states, or has more than one system of law, or has any 1 or more autonomous territorial organisations; and

  • (b) More than one Central Authority is appointed for that foreign country,—

  a reference in this Act to the Central Authority of that foreign country, in relation to a request made pursuant to this Act, means the Central Authority for that foreign country that, in the circumstances of the particular case, is the appropriate Central Authority to transmit or, as the case may be, receive the request.

  (5) A reference in this Act to the law of a foreign country includes a reference to the law of a part of, or the law in force in part of, the country.

  (6) In this Act, a reference to an offence of a political character does not include—

  • (a) an offence—

    • (i) that is constituted by conduct of a kind referred to in a multilateral treaty to which New Zealand is a party; and

    • (ii) for which parties have an obligation to provide to one another assistance in criminal matters; or

  • (b) any offence in relation to which New Zealand has agreed in writing with another country that the offence will not be treated as a political offence for the purposes of the provision of assistance in criminal matters between New Zealand and that country.

  Section 2(1) financial institution: substituted, on 17 October 2009, by section 161(2) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (2009 No 35).

  Subsection (6) was inserted, as from 18 June 2002, by section 3(3) Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 23).