So near yet so far: implications for the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill

This article explores some of the implications that arise from New Zealand’s Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill (OCACL), which was passed into law on 5 November 2015 and came into effect on 1 January 2016. As an Omnibus Bill, the OCACL makes amendments to twelve different Acts; chief among these are legislative changes pertaining to bribery and corruption. Despite New Zealand’s long-standing reputation for good governance it was one of the very few signatories that had still to ratify the United Nations Conventions Against Corruption (UNCAC). This article identifies a number of potential areas that potentially still do not meet UNCAC requirements, which begs questions not only of the Bill but of the utility of UNCAC itself. Furthermore the article explores a new offence of Trading in Influence, which we suggest has potentially far reaching consequences, in theory at least