The Influence of Non-Legal Research on Legal Approaches to Ex Parte Domestic Violence Protection Orders in New Zealand
Abstract
Ex Parte Domestic Violence Protection Orders arguably breach numerous provisions of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (BORA) †ss. 13, 17, 18, 19(1), 27, and possibly also s. 25(a)-(f) †unless BORA s. 6 can be used to interpret the Domestic Violence Act 1995 (DVA) in a BORA-consistent way. Their most egregious breach, however, is their breach of s. 22 †the protection against arbitrary arrest or detention. Although Parliament is the most obvious place to seek a solution, recourse could be had to the Human Rights Committee, which, operating as it does under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, is not bound by BORA s. 4, which allows other statutes to trump BORA.
