Submit!

The Justice and Electoral Committee has called for submissions on the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill. Two copies, by Monday, 6 April 2009, to

Committee Secretariat
Justice and Electoral Committee
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

The bill would empower the police to forcibly take DNA from anyone arrested for an imprisonable offence, regardless of severity. This violates the presumption of innocence, is grossly out of step with international norms around DNA sampling, and is simply an excuse for a giant police fishing expedition. The government's own Attorney-General considers this it to be unreasonable, and thinks the bill violates the Bill of Rights Act [PDF]. Submitting against it may make a real difference to the eventual shape of legislation.

If you haven't submitted on legislation before, there's a handy guide here [PDF]; its as simple as writing a letter saying what you think of the law and why.