In mid-May 2025 the New Zealand government will host an evaluation team who will review New Zealand’s implementation of the commitments it signed up to under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The evaluation team will include representatives from Iceland and the Solomon Islands, and the Ministry of Justice is coordinating the review visit.
This is an important review because UNCAC is the main global accountability mechanism focused specifically on corruption – 191 state parties have signed up to it. This New Zealand evaluation has been much delayed due partly to COVID-19. The focus of this visit will be on two core parts of the convention: Chapter II - Corruption Prevention, and Chapter V - Asset Recovery. This is the first time New Zealand will be assessed against Corruption Prevention, so it is a key opportunity to set a baseline for improvement as well as recognise our country’s achievements.
New Zealand signed the UNCAC in 2003 but only actively committed to it through ratification in 2015. New Zealand was first assessed in 2017 by Cameroon and Turkey on articles 15 - 42 of Chapter III - Criminalization and law enforcement, and articles 44 - 50 of Chapter IV - International cooperation.
Back in 2021 TINZ provided feedback on the New Zealand country self-assessment for the current review. The UNCAC review process has been a slow adopter of civil society engagement, mainly seeing the convention as an intergovernmental mechanism, despite the obvious advantages of having informed civil society involvement. However, for the review visit the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is more open to civil society and business providing submissions and feedback (though there is not a full public consultation).
We have put in an OIA request for the self-assessment to be provided. We are also recommending to MoJ other civil society groups and businesses that would have interest and expertise.
TINZ is also working on a submission to the UNCAC visiting panel, and we are powering up that submission through the contribution of our Board and expert volunteers.
For example in Chapter II - Corruption Prevention countries commit to public sector integrity measures. There is much to recommend including around political party financing, transparency in the appointment of candidatures for elected public office, codes of conduct, transparent procurement practices and promoting corruption prevention in the private sector.
TINZ will make its submission publicly available as soon as it is ready.
Other corruption related international review mechanisms focus on financial systems (FATF), anti-bribery (the OECD Anti Bribery Convention) and transnational organised crime (UNTOC).
