Duynhoven Harry: Armed Forces Law Reform Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDuynhoven Harry: Armed Forces Law Reform Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 10 October 2007. Volume:642;Page:12240. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister for Transport Safety): I regard it as a privilege to be involved in this debate and I regret that I am not currently a member of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee which is chaired by Dianne Yates. I was previously a member of the committee and I know that my colleague Dr Wayne Mapp who has just finished speaking is one who takes a keen interest in legal matters having a doctorate in law. I am not legally qualified at all but I see the need for this legislation.Hon Phil Goff: You’re a bush lawyer.Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN: As the Minister says I have pretty good qualifications as a bush lawyer though.To be fair in looking at this legislation I see that it is absolutely clear that it is due. It is absolutely clear that the Armed Forces Law Reform Bill which is shortly to be split up into other bills is one that the military establishment in New Zealand has certainly wanted. The military establishment has wanted modernisation of its statutes and of the law under which its criminal and military justice system work.The purpose of the bill is to establish or enhance an effective and fair system of military justice. Dr Mapp was quite right when he said we have the opportunity to look at these issues perhaps only once in a parliamentary career—maybe a couple of times if that. I have a few years under my belt as a member of Parliament now and there have been only three occasions that I can recall when bills involving the military and defence arrangements for our country the structure of the military and issues surrounding justice within the military have ever been brought to the attention of Parliament. One of those occasions was the Act of Parliament that provided a pardon for the officers and men—particularly New Zealand soldiers—who were court-martialled during the Great War and executed. That legislation was very trying for the families involved for the descendants of those soldiers and for Parliament to deal with. With the benefit of hindsight I guess—and several generations of families have gone since—we looked back and saw that perhaps the military justice system of the time was pretty harsh.This legislation is timely in that it brings the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 up to date and acknowledges the developments that have taken place in human rights laws both internationally and domestically as well as the passage in our Parliament some years ago—I think about 15 or 16 years now; maybe longer—of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Those developments have really meant that our legislation governing military jurisprudence has become a bit out of date. So it is very good that the select committee has worked through the issues in this legislation and that this bill when it is split up into its key components and becomes separate bills later will amend much of the legislation—the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971 the Courts Martial Appeals Act 1953 and the Defence Act 1990—that was the last substantive legislation involving our defence structure to deliver an enhanced military justice system for the New Zealand armed forces.The legislation which will be debated in the Committee part by part and perhaps even by individual clauses brings into effect many more modern provisions that are inline with the Human Rights Act changes and with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Our out-of-date legislation will be brought up to date in order to ensure that the same sorts of rights that we expect for the general public will also be applied to military personnel who for whatever reason have fallen foul of the law. The legislation will better serve our servicemen and women by applying the same rights that civilians enjoy in terms of the right to have advice and defence counsel etc. Those sorts of things will make a big difference to justice within the military.