Operation Respect offending details
Chris made this Official Information request to New Zealand Defence Force
The request was partially successful.
From: Chris
Dear New Zealand Defence Force,
The Director of Military Prosecutions decides whether or not to take someone to the Court Martial and what charges will be used (section 101F, Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971).
1) Since the beginning of Operation Respect, how many charges has the Director of Military Prosecutions decided not to prosecute?
2) What are the facts surrounding those matters?
3) What happened to those charges?
4) I would like any notes or correspondence about those charges or the Director of Military Prosecution's decisions, including the decisions themselves. If there is an NZDF committee for discipline, I request any reference to those decisions made in the meeting minutes.
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Defence Force
Good afternoon Chris
Your request below has been received and a decision on your request will
be provided as soon as possible and no later than 17 January 2023.
Responses to requests for information that are considered to be in the
wider public interest will be published on the New Zealand Defence Force
website ([1]www.nzdf.mil.nz).
Regards
Corporate and Ministerial Services
Office of the Chief of Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force | Te Ope Kâtua o Aotearoa
[2]www.nzdf.mil.nzGood morning/afternoon ……….
show quoted sections
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Defence Force
Good afternoon Chris
Further to the below email, Operation RESPECT is a comprehensive strategy
designed to eradicate unacceptable and unwanted behaviours from the NZDF,
and as such covers a very wide range of behaviours as well as offences
dealt with under the military justice system. A very large number of
Courts Martial have been conducted since the launch of Operation Respect
on 15 March 2016. Could you please clarify your request by indicating, for
example, whether it is the offences of indecent assault and sexual
violation which you are seeking information on, or all charges that
involve inappropriate sexual behaviour (such as harassment and offensive
sexualised language).
As it stands, your request may be declined given the substantive amount of
work required to review all files for offences which may or may not relate
to Operation RESPECT.
Regards
Corporate and Ministerial Services
Office of the Chief of Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force
[1]www.nzdf.mil.nz
From: Ministerial Services
Sent: Tuesday, 29 November 2022 1:47 p.m.
To: '[FOI #21289 email]'
Subject: UNCLASSIFIED: Official Information request - Operation Respect
offending details
Good afternoon Chris
Your request below has been received and a decision on your request will
be provided as soon as possible and no later than 17 January 2023.
Responses to requests for information that are considered to be in the
wider public interest will be published on the New Zealand Defence Force
website ([2]www.nzdf.mil.nz).
Regards
Corporate and Ministerial Services
Office of the Chief of Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force | Te Ope Kâtua o Aotearoa
[3]www.nzdf.mil.nzGood morning/afternoon ……….
show quoted sections
From: Chris
Dear Ministerial Services,
I am interested in which cases the Director of Military Prosecutions decided not to take to trial regardless of what the charge was, and I assumed there would be an easily accessible record of that as a decision made by someone appointed by law.
It is surprising to learn that there are so many charges in six years that it involves too much work to review, given how small NZDF is. My assumption was that most matters would go to trial and the ones that didn't would be a small number. If there are too many matters that did not go ahead, I will limit the dates to 2019 onwards.
Yours sincerely,
Chris
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Defence Force
Good morning Chris
Please find attached the response to your OIA request of 29 November 2022.
Corporate and Ministerial Services
Office of the Chief of Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force
[1]www.nzdf.mil.nz
The information contained in this Internet Email message is intended for
the addressee only and may contain privileged information, but not
necessarily the official views or opinions of the New Zealand Defence
Force. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose,
copy or
distribute this message or the information in it. If you have received
this message in error, please Email or telephone the sender immediately.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request