RNZSPCA accountability and prosecutions
Grace Haden made this Official Information request to Ministry for Primary Industries
Response to this request is delayed. By law, Ministry for Primary Industries should normally have responded promptly and by (details and exceptions)
From: Grace Haden
Dear Ministry for Primary Industries,
Questions have been raised in the Australian parliament which appear to be relevant to new Zealand also with slight modifications
(1) What policies and protocols govern the RNZSPCA’s access to private property, specifically in circumstances where the owner of the property was either not notified of a visitation or otherwise absent from that property?
(2) How often can the RNZSPCA vist a property before it is considered harassment
(3) What records are kept with respect to complaints being made against RNZSPCA inspectors?
(4) How many complaints against RNZSPCA inspectors have been made in the last five years?
(i) What types of complaints have these been?
(ii) How many complaints have been upheld in that same period?
(5) prosecutions by the RNZSPA are private prosecutions and are recognised by the supreme court as such SC 58/2019 [2020] NZSC 97 documents are not filed in complaince with the requirements of the criminal proceedure act (CPA) S26 because the matter goes through a crown prosecution and masquarades as a crown prosecution
(i)- what consideratons/dispensations have been given by Mpi that this is not in line with the requirements of section 13 CPA and section 26 and a breach of the fair hearing provison of the bill of rights S 25 (a)
(ii) please provide all correspondence , policies and information whihc yo hold with regard to the crown undertaking such proscutions despite the limitation due to the definiton “private prosecution” is defined in s 5 of the Act essentially as a prosecution that is not a public prosecution nor a prosecution “commenced by or on behalf of a local authority, or other statutory public body or board”.
(iii)please provide the legal referneces relied on to consider the RNZSPA be considerd a local authority, or other statutory public body or board”.
(iv) if such evidence exists please provide evidence that has been taken to correct the supreme court decison refered to above at [126] The range and nature of private prosecutors and prosecutions is wide and varied. In its 2000 report on criminal prosecutions, the Law Commission identified five categories of private prosecutors -(c) organisations accepted as having an interest in enforcing particular statutes, such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA);
Yours faithfully,
Grace Haden
From: Grace Haden
Dear Ministry for Primary Industries,
This request was due to day but has not even been acknowledged could some one please attend to it urgently
Yours faithfully,
Grace Haden
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