Terrorism Suppression Act 2002

Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
New Zealand Parliament
The purpose of this Act is— (a) to make further provision in New Zealand law for the suppression of terrorism; and (b) to make provision to implement in New Zealand law New Zealand's obligations under— (i) the Bombings Convention; and (ii) the Financing Convention; and (iii) the Anti-terrorism Resolution; and (iv) the Nuclear Material Convention; and (v) the Plastic Explosives Convention; and (vi) the Nuclear Terrorism Convention; and (c) to make further provision to implement, in part, the Al-Qaida and the Taliban Sanctions Resolutions.
Date of Royal Assent	17 October 2002
Status: Current legislation

The purpose of this Act is—

(a) to make further provision in New Zealand law for the suppression of terrorism; and

(b) to make provision to implement in New Zealand law New Zealand's obligations under—

(i) the Bombings Convention; and

(ii) the Financing Convention; and

(iii) the Anti-terrorism Resolution; and

(iv) the Nuclear Material Convention; and

(v) the Plastic Explosives Convention; and

(vi) the Nuclear Terrorism Convention; and

The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 is New Zealand counter-terrorism legislation passed under the Clark-led Labour government. Enacted following the September 11 attacks, the Act was designed to better address contemporary terrorism issues, both domestically and abroad. As of April 2015, the Act has not been formally used in prosecution; however there have been several failed attempts by the Crown to do so. Many individuals and organisations have however been designated as “Terrorist entities” under the Act’s provisions, in line with UN Security Council designations. The Act was amended in 2007.

New Zealand, considered a relatively ‘safe’ country, has experienced few terrorist incidents in its short history. Prior to 2001, incidents included the bombings of the Huntly rail bridge in 1951, the Whanganui Computer Centre in 1982, the Wellington Trades Hall in 1984 and the Greenpeace vessel The Rainbow Warrior in 1985. Contrary to the popular association between terrorism and insurgency, the latter two of the four were perpetrated by state or state-aligned actors, as noted by Omar Hamed. Due to these incidents, New Zealand had already established prior to this act, “A comprehensive legislative and substantive counter-terrorist framework...” However the growth of international terrorism in recent years, alluded to by then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff in the bill’s first reading, gave rise to the need to introduce new, “comprehensive” anti-terror legislation. The examples he gave were the Lockerbie bombing, the World Trade Centre bombing and the Nairobi embassy attack.

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