Hawkins George: Visiting Forces Bill — First Reading 
Hawkins George: Visiting Forces Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:613;Page:10254] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Police) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Defence 
: I move  
That the Visiting Forces Bill be now read a first time.  
It is my intention to move at the conclusion of this debate that the bill be referred to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. 
The Visiting Forces Bill will repeal and replace the Visiting Forces Act of 1939. The proposed bill is intended to rectify certain deficiencies identified by the Crown Law Office in the Visiting Forces Act. The bill will also update the law relating to visiting armed forces and bring it into line with developments in New Zealand law as well as the law of New Zealand’s friends and allies. 
This is important for reasons of international reciprocity. New Zealand expects that its armed forces will enjoy similar privileges and immunities from local jurisdictions when they are deployed to foreign countries as their visiting counterparts receive here. The relationships in respect of jurisdiction are contained in the status of forces agreements that are routinely negotiated with States with which New Zealand has defence relations and to which the New Zealand Defence Force deploys. This is made difficult when under current legislation New Zealand is unable to guarantee similar privileges and immunities to forces visiting New Zealand. 
The principle generally recognised under international law is that a State that voluntarily admits a foreign armed force to its territory by implication undertakes not to exercise any jurisdiction over the force or its members that would be inconsistent with its continuing to exist as an efficient force of the sending State. Prior to the 1951 NATO Status of Forces Agreement there was however considerable debate as to the extent to which a visiting force must be considered subject to the laws of the receiving State. The solution arrived at in the NATO Status of Forces Agreement provided that for most purposes there is shared jurisdiction between sending and receiving States. The NATO agreement allocated primary jurisdiction to the sending State for offences committed in the performance of official duties or against other members of the force or accompanying civilians. Off-duty offences committed against the local population were left to the primary jurisdiction of the receiving State. 
The Crown Law Office has identified that the 1939 Act does not (a) contain any provision to resolve issues of shared jurisdiction; (b) provide for members of visiting forces who commit offences in New Zealand to be arrested and brought before a court in the usual way pending resolution of the question of jurisdiction; (c) provide an effective safeguard against double jeopardy; or (d) deal with coronial inquests into the death of a member of a visiting force. 
The Visiting Forces Bill will make the following improvements: (a) potential application to any foreign State—not just Commonwealth members—whose armed forces are in New Zealand with the consent of the New Zealand Government; (b) clarification that the jurisdiction of visiting forces may include criminal jurisdiction which will enable New Zealand to give effect to the status of forces agreement signed with Australia in 1998; (c) provision of a mechanism to resolve issues of shared jurisdiction between New Zealand and the sending State; (d) provision for members of visiting forces who commit offences in New Zealand to be arrested and brought before a court in the usual way pending resolution of the question of jurisdiction; (e) effective safeguard against double jeopardy; and (f) provision concerning coronial inquests into deaths arising from the presence in New Zealand of a visiting force. 
The Visiting Forces Bill will permit a visiting force in New Zealand to exercise exclusive disciplinary jurisdiction over its personnel as is currently the case under section 3(1) of the 1939 Act. It will also provide for shared jurisdiction between New Zealand and the sending State to investigate and prosecute offences committed by a member of the visiting force in New Zealand. In such cases the ability of the visiting force to exercise criminal jurisdiction will be subject to the terms of the status of forces agreement entered into between New Zealand and the sending State before the visiting force arrives in New Zealand.