Why the Right to Privacy Sets a Limit to the Disclosure of Sex Offenders' Personal Information

Abstract

This paper deals with the relationship between the right to privacy and the disclosure of sex offenders’ personal information. First, it will give background information on the protection of the right to privacy in New Zealand and analyse the case Brown v Attorney-General with the result that the judgment was correct with the interpretation that the police actions caused a breach of privacy. After that, it will raise the question if sex offender registries are a proper alternative to increase community safety concluding that a statutory sex offender registry would not be a good idea for New Zealand and would also be inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.