Ukrainian passports
People demonstrate Ukrainian passports as they stand in a line to enter a polling station and take part in the referendum on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk, regions in Moscow May 11, 2014. Rebels pressed ahead with a referendum on self-rule in east Ukraine on Sunday and fighting flared anew in a conflict that has raised fears of civil war and pitched Russia and the West into their worst crisis since the Cold War. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ELECTIONS)

The Green Party in New Zealand has urged the Government to halt its "draconian surveillance and passport laws" as outlined in the Government's foreign fighter legislation bill, whose initial draft was released on Sunday.

The Green Party said there are serious flaws in its drafting, and many sections are openly breaching New Zealand's international legal obligations. Coming down heavily on Prime Minister John Key, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said, "John Key is proposing radical changes that will see innocent New Zealanders being rendered stateless or spied upon in their own homes without a warrant. He wants to ram the law in record time under urgency."

Expressing concern that the legislation is falling short of the accepted parliamentary process, the Green leader wanted experts to analyse the law and understand its full implications, reported Scoop News. Norman alleged that it is arrogance that the Prime Minister and his legislative drafters got such a controversial legislation "perfectly written" on first draft itself, without giving the public the chance to have their say.

Serious Holes

The Green leader alleged that there were serious holes in the law. One example was it lacks clarity whether the evidence obtained from a 48 hour warrantless surveillance will be admissible in court, in case no warrant is subsequently approved.

Norman said, the proposed laws would see New Zealanders having their passports cancelled while they are overseas and making them stateless. That is a breach of our international obligations under the United Nations. One glaring omission is the much touted "sunset clause" that is longer than John Key had proposed to the public. This means, New Zealand will have to live with internationally unlawful laws, for many years to come.

Misuse Feared

Norman feared that the intelligence agencies and police can botch up the new laws terribly. He recalled the application of terror laws in the Ahmed Zaoui case, in which the authorities were proved wrong, added a 3News report. He said Zaoui case should be an alarm bell against extending powers to agencies that have proven incompetent in using them.

Voicing concern, Norman said safeguards are required to see that no innocent New Zealanders are at the receiving end when the Government will be using these new powers. Norman alleged that the new laws on cancellation of passport are a clear breach of New Zealand's international obligations under the United Nations.