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Ngā mihi,

Ministerial Relations and Services

Governance and Assurance

DDI: +64 4 918 8800

Justice Centre I Aitken Street

DX Box SX 10088 I Wellington

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Kia ora,

Thank you for emailing the Ministry of Justice.

We acknowledge receipt of your request.

This has been forwarded onto the relevant business unit to respond to.

The Ministry of Justice may publish the response to your request on our website, you can expect that if your OIA is to be published that this will take place at least 10 working days after it has been sent you. Your name and any other personal information will be withheld under Section 9(2)(a) (protect the privacy of natural persons).

You can expect a response by 05/04/2023.

Ngā mihi,

Ministerial Relations and Services
Governance and Assurance
Strategy, Governance and Assurance
04 918 8800 | Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture www.justice.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Requestor <[FYI request #22034 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 8 March 2023 1:39 pm
To: [Ministry of Justice request email]
Subject: Official Information request - Info held by MOJ

TO: Ministry of Justice (MOJ),

Section 2 of the Human Rights Act 1993 provides no statutory definition for the word "human", nor can one be found in any NZ law dictionary or law paper, thus, it's not publicly available in a manner appropriate to the explicit expectation of the public.

The NZ Legislation Guidelines 2021, page 9, states the following:

"Legislation should be accessible for users—legislation should be able to be easily found by citizens, easy to navigate, and understand. As a result, those involved in making legislation must think about how users will find and access it."

There are rights pertaining to property, persons, customary, equitable, etc., each classification thereof having been defined for ease of understanding by citizens on which to rely; yet it is odd that the rights relating to a "human" cannot entirely be known for want of an understanding of what a "human" is. Absence of a definition of "human" in the Act seems contrary to the Legislation Guidelines 2021, and the general public cannot be expected to fully understand what the word means in any legal context, nor the rights attached to that word.

Whereas the administering agency for said Act is MOJ, this request seeks to know whether or not a legal definition for the word "human" is HELD by MOJ.

To further clarify, this request is not a request for a definition of the word "human", as that may constitute giving 'legal advice', on which you cannot give (although MOJ has so done in OIA 86267); rather this request is to know if the Ministry of Justice HOLDS in its database a definition for "human".

REPEAT: THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR THE DEFINITION ITSELF, however, if MOJ knows where a NZ legal definition may be found, please advise.

To avoid work, this request is not intended to seek information relevant to the definition of such words as 'human being' or 'human rights'.

Thank you,

Requestor

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #22034 email]

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Dear Requestor,

 

Please find attached the response to your OIA request of 8 March 2023.

 

Regards

 

Ministerial Relations and Services

   

Ministerial Relations and Services

Governance & Assurance

Tel +64 4 918 8800
Justice Centre | Aitken Street

DX Box SX 10088 | Wellington

[email address]| [1]justice.govt.nz

 

 

 

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