Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wel ington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
29 April 2025
Hannah Baxter
[FYI request #30546 email]
Ref: OIA 120775
Tēnā koe Hannah
Official Information Act request: Criminal Conviction check
Thank you for your email of 27 March 2025 requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act), information regarding criminal conviction checks. Specifically, you requested:
I know from NZ Police records that civilian records (such as an officer's personnel
file, record of service, etc) are held for up to 30 years and then removed.
What is the length of time information such as addresses are kept by the Ministry of
Justice for civilians (not criminals)?
Criminal history check asks for addresses going back 10 years - I am continually
being asked for information going back 30-plus years which disturbs me.
Why is this? It is quite clear that the names match, the addresses match, there are
no criminal convictions - why is the ministry on a witchhunt to add in addresses that
are up to 30-plus years old and of no relevance whatsoever any more?
How long does the Ministry keep this type of CIVIL record (when it is not related to
anything criminal) and why am I asked for it when it's clear who is requesting and
subsequent requests under single surnames have been returned fine.
Your request has been referred to me for a response, as it falls within my responsibilities as
Group Manager, National Service Delivery.
Please note, that where you have mentioned civil in your request, I have interpreted this as
relating to civilians in general and not the civil court.
On 13 September 2024, the Ministry responded to a similar OIA request you made through
the FYI website (ref no: 115131). As that response answers your current request of 27 March
2025, I refer to the information in the previous response below:
In response to your request, and for background information, I must advise that Criminal
Conviction History reports (CCH) are generated directly from court information which is held
on a permanent basis under rule 7.2 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2012, which is reflected
in Schedule 1 of the District Court Act 2016 and Schedule 2 of the Senior Courts Act 2016.
Law enforcement information, as it relates to convictions, is accessed from the court record
by the Ministry, as permitted under schedule 4 of the Privacy Act 2020 for the purpose of
generating a criminal conviction history report at the request of the applicant. Section 172(1)
of the Privacy Act 2020 describes this access.
There are no specific policies or statutes regarding the requirement for 10 years of addresses.
It is an operational decision that a minimum of ten years of addresses are required to assure
the CCH team that the correct information has been generated into the CCH report for the
requestor.
In most cases, the process to generate a CCH report is automatic, however, in some instances
manual checks are required to ensure the information to be generated in the report matches
the identity of the person requesting the record. It is important that additional checks are
completed when the need arises, to ensure private information is protected, and released only
to the person entitled to receive it. Manual checks can involve requesting further information
from the requestor to confirm the identity and generated report match.
CCH reports, and any additional information obtained to support the creation of that report are
stored temporarily while the request is being processed and while any quality assurance
checks are completed. This is generally for a period of three months, and the records are then
destroyed by the CCH team. The permanent court record, however, is retained by the court.
If you require any further information, please contact Media & Social Media Manager Joe
Locke at [email address]
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at
: Of icial Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by email to [email address] or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Tracey Baguley
Group Manager, National Service Delivery
