Proposed cybercrime law passes first reading in Parliament

The Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Bill – proposed legislation seeking to help protect New Zealanders from cybercrime – has passed its first reading in Parliament on 15 October.

The proposed law has provisions aiming to align New Zealand’s domestic laws with the Budapest Convention, according to Paul Goldsmith, New Zealand’s justice minister, in a news release.

The Bill’s provisions include:

• new preservation directions in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, which seek to enable law enforcement agencies to require companies to preserve records that could potentially amount to evidence of an offence
• amendments to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992, which aim to enhance New Zealand’s ability to ask foreign countries to assist with criminal investigations and to assist other countries in return
• minor amendments to the Crimes Act 1961, which seek to ensure that offences relating to cybercrime and computer use are comprehensive and in full alignment with the Convention’s requirements

The proposed legislation aims to help law enforcement agencies better protect New Zealanders, specifically by equipping them with the tools that they need to detect, investigate, and prosecute criminal offences even when they occur online, said the news release of the New Zealand government.

Background

Goldsmith emphasised in the news release that fraud and cybercrime have resulted in significant financial harm and emotional distress. In 2023, these crimes have victimised 11% of New Zealanders, Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith noted that the Budapest Convention, also known as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, is the only binding international treaty on cybercrime. The Convention seeks to align the laws of the member countries and to help them cooperate on criminal investigations, Goldsmith explained.

“By joining the convention, we are signalling to the other like-minded countries that we take cybercrime seriously and we are prepared to do our part to eliminate it,” Goldsmith said in the news release of the New Zealand government.