Immigration backs down

Back in 2011, I highlighted an obnoxious practice of Immigration NZ of refusing to record reasons for certain decisions. The practice was contrary to the Public Records Act, and, as OIA'd documents later revealed, had been implemented specifically to prevent those decisions from being reviewed by the courts or the Ombudsman. Now, according to the NZ Council for Civil Liberties, Immigration has backed down in the face of complaints to the Chief Archivist and Ombudsman, and issued a new circular [PDF] requiring that reasons be recorded.

So, open government and the rule of law win. But no doubt Immigration will find another way to subvert them.