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New Zealand - Corruption

New Zealand is renowned for its efforts to ensure a transparent, competitive, and corruption-free government procurement system. New Zealand has an open, transparent economy where businesses and investors can generally make commercial transactions with ease. Major political parties are committed to an open trading regime and sound rule of law practices, and the country enjoys minimal corruption.Stiff penalties against bribery of government officials as well as those accepting bribes are strictly enforced. New Zealand consistently achieves top ratings in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). In 2012, Transparency International ranked New Zealand first equal (out of 180 countries and territories), with a rating of 90. The highest possible score (i.e. least corrupt) is 100.

New Zealand’s regulatory, legal, and accounting systems are generally transparent and consistent with international norms. Proposed laws and regulations are regularly published in draft form for public comment via the internet, and law makers generally make every effort to give public submissions due consideration. While some standards are set through legislation or regulation, the vast majority of standards are developed through Standards New Zealand, the country’s leading standards setting body. Standards New Zealand is a Crown entity, but it operates autonomously and is self-funded. When setting standards, they rely on expert committee consensus, public input and widespread consultation with affected parties, both foreign and domestic. The majority of standards are set in coordination with Australia.

The legal framework for combating corruption in New Zealand consists of domestic and international legal and administrative methods. New Zealand’s criminal offences related to bribery are contained in the Crimes Act 1961 and the Secret Commissions Act 1910. The New Zealand Government has a strong code of conduct, The Standards of Integrity and Conduct, which applies to all State Services employees and is rigorously enforced. The New Zealand Police has its own Code of Conduct that applies to all New Zealand Police employees, and the Office of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner was established in August 2005 to deal with complaints about the conduct of judges. The Office of the Controller and Auditor-General and the Office of the Ombudsman take an active role in uncovering and exposing corrupt practices. The Protected Disclosures Act was enacted to protect public and private sector employees who engage in “whistleblowing”.

New Zealand has signed and ratified the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. In October 2006, the OECD examined New Zealand for compliance with the convention. New Zealand has also signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. In 2003, New Zealand signed the UN Convention Against Corruption and is currently working to ratify it. New Zealand joined the GATT/WTO Government Procurement Agreement in 2012, citing benefits for exporters, while noting that there would be little change for foreign companies bidding within New Zealand's totally deregulated government procurement system. New Zealand supports multilateral efforts to increase transparency of government procurement regimes. New Zealand also engages with Pacific Island countries in capacity building projects to bolster transparency and anti-corruption efforts.