TINZ has just completed its UNCAC submission and sent it to the review group that will be visiting New Zealand in the third week of May. The panel will be reviewing New Zealand’s commitments to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). This is one part of the ‘Independent Review Mechanism (IRM)’ that makes UNCAC have impact.
Our submission is the result of a collective effort, with oversight from the TINZ Board and significant contributions by Members with Delegated Authority and other aligned subject matter experts. The result is a substantial submission, with 25 actionable recommendations. It leans on our 2024 research as well as our work on National Integrity Systems.
A small TINZ team will meet with the review group later this month.
Our overall summary won’t surprise anyone who has read our 2024 research or our TINZ Corruption Scan 2025. New Zealand as a whole and its institutions are less corrupt than many other countries. A relatively strong culture of integrity and of ethical behaviour exists across most of society, including in its formal institutions. There have been some good (largely reactive) achievements over time in legislative empowerment, increased enforcement and increased international and regional collaboration.
But we are facing increased and more diverse corruption within New Zealand, regionally and globally. The integrity systems in our country have come under attack as a result of transnational organised crime, external country influences, global technology expansion and financial system changes.
There are now multiple weaknesses across our integrity systems - meanwhile we don’t have a national strategy, or sufficient investigative resources. There is an urgent need for New Zealand to take a more positive, proactive approach to fighting corruption.
Two chapters of UNCAC are being assessed this time - Chapter II Preventive Measures and Chapter V Asset Recovery. Our submission response relates mainly to Preventive Measures. Topics we address include beneficial ownership transparency, political integrity, strategy and leadership in anti-corruption, anti-bribery measures, public procurement, budgeting and the Official Information Act.
UNCAC is the broadest international accountability tool on anti-corruption. New Zealand signed the convention in 2003 but didn’t ratify until 2015 (ratification generates a country peer review process). New Zealand’s first assessment on Chapters III Criminalization and law enforcement and articles 44 - 50 of Chapter IV International cooperation occurred in 2017, with the report from that assessment published in 2020.
This review round is the first time that New Zealand civil society organisations have been able to contribute to the review. There has been a small shift in Convention signatories' attitude towards civil society involvement. That shift has been prompted by civil society pressure, including a recent open civil society letter – which TINZ signed - that urges the 191 UNCAC member states to support a more effective, transparent, and inclusive UNCAC IRM.
We have encouraged the Ministry of Justice to include a range of civil society organisations in this IRM review visit as well as business and media. Corruption affects us all, and we are all part of the answer.
We are also requesting transparency of the outcome of this review. Although countries do not have to publish their full reports, we urge the New Zealand government to openly publish the review report when it is completed, noting that may be some time off.
