Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act 2000

Reprint as at 15 September 2000

Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act 2000

Public Act2000 No 29
Date of assent14 September 2000
Commencementsee section 2
Note

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint.

This Act is administered by the New Zealand Defence Force.

  • Preamble

    (1) In the Great War, 5 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force were executed, after trial by court martial, for certain offences:

    (2) They were all volunteers:

    (3) One was executed for the offence of mutiny:

    (4) The other 4 were executed for the offence of desertion:

    (5) Their execution was not a fate that they deserved but was one that resulted from—

    • (a) the harsh discipline that was believed at the time to be required; and

    • (b) the application of the death penalty for military offences being seen at that time as an essential part of maintaining military discipline:

    (6) The execution of those 5 soldiers brought dishonour to both the soldiers themselves and New Zealand:

    (7) It is now desired to remove, so far as practicable, the dishonour that the execution of those 5 soldiers brought to those soldiers and their families.