The impact of human rights on military discipline in New Zealand: marching in time

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact of human rights on military discipline within the New Zealand Defence Force. It considers the manner in which New Zealand's human rights legislation applies to the military justice system and, in doing so, it establishes that a number of actual and potential conflicts arise from that application. The issues are dealt with in an order which broadly follows the chronology of the disciplinary process, from pre-trial processes to the post-trial consequences of proceedings under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971. The overall argument of this thesis is that the impact of recent New Zealand human rights legislation, especially the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, is such that it requires the urgent adaptation of several important aspects of the military justice system. It does not suggest that the relationship between human rights and military discipline is such that the latter will collapse. However, for the two to co-exist, the New Zealand Defence Force has a responsibility to ensure that its system of military discipline marches in time with the requirements of human rights law.