The Right to Life and the Death of Halatau Naitoko: an Evaluation of the State's Obligations under Section 8 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990

Abstract

Section 8 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 affirms the right not to be deprived of life. This thesis explores the scope of this right and the State’s obligations with regard to it, in light of the recent shooting of Halatau Naitoko. It argues that the State has four duties under s 8: a negative duty not to kill, a positive to protect life, a duty to investigate unnatural deaths, and a duty to provide an effective remedy. It considers a range of domestic and international examples of each of these duties, in order to determine what the scope of the State’s obligations are in each scenario. It applies the findings from this analysis to the circumstances of the Naitoko killing, and argues that, in that case, the State breached Naitoko’s s 8 right to life.