UN Committee assesses NZ government's performance
On 25 and 26 November 2025, the government's performance in implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was assessed by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) during its 116th session, held in Geneva from 17 November to 5 December 2025.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD, the Convention) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1965, and entered into force in January 1969. The Convention defines racial discrimination as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or other areas of public life. The Convention is the second oldest of the UN human rights conventions (the first being the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which is also classified as humanitarian law), and the fourth most widely ratified with 182 state parties (as at November 2025) - the Convention text is available here. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD, the Committee) was the first treaty monitoring body created by the UN to monitor and review actions by states to fulfill their obligations under a specific human rights agreement. It comprises 18 independent experts, appointed by state parties, and monitors how states are putting the Convention into practice. CERD usually holds three sessions every year, each consisting of three-four weeks, but the United Nations regular budget liquidity situation has resulted in only two sessions in 2025. The Committee reports on its activities to the UN General Assembly via the UN Secretary-General. Every state party to the Convention is required to submit regular periodic reports to CERD on what legal, judicial, administrative and other steps they have taken to fulfill their obligations to eliminate racial discrimination. The periodic reports are examined by the Committee, in conjunction with information supplied in parallel reports from NGOs. As well as the Convention, the Committee takes into account General Recommendations, which it has developed through time to provide more detailed information on specific topics, to assess whether or not a state party is complying with its obligations under the Convention - CERD'S General Recommendations are available here. Prior to the session when a periodic report will be considered by CERD, a List of Themes is sent to the state party. The List of Themes covers topics the Committee are particularly interested in discussing during the interactive dialogue with state party representatives, and it is put together by the Country Rapporteur, a Committee member appointed to cover that particular state party during examination of its periodic report. As well as drafting the List of Themes, the Country Rapporteur usually takes the lead in questioning the government delegation during the interactive dialogue, and in drafting Concluding Observations to be discussed and adopted by the Committee. During the session when the state party's report is being considered, government representatives appear before CERD for an interactive dialogue - to provide a verbal summary of their report, and to answer questions about the report and information provided by others, including NGOs. NGO representatives also have the opportunity to speak separately to Committee members and to answer their questions. At the conclusion of the session, the Committee releases Concluding Observations for each state party whose report it has considered. CERD's Concluding Observations generally have a brief introductory section, some comment on any positive aspects the Committee has noted, and a list of concerns and recommendations for the state party to implement. Periodic reports are one of the ways in which CERD monitors whether or not states are meeting their obligations to eliminate racial discrimination, and whether or not they are acting in a racially discriminatory way. In addition, Article 14 of the Convention provides for the Committee to consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals who have been subjected to racial discrimination by a state party. However, this can only happen when a state party has made the declaration required in Article 14 that they recognise the competence of the Committee to consider such communications, and some governments have not. CERD also has an early-warning and urgent action procedure to respond to actions by a state party which require immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention. This procedure takes the form of direct communications to the Committee from those affected by the actions, or intended actions, of a state party, whether or not that government has made an Article 14 declaration. More information about the Committee and its working methods is available here. CERD will hold its 116th session in Geneva from 17 November to 5 December 2025. As well as considering NZ's periodic report, the Committee will consider reports from Burundi, Guatemala, Maldives, Sweden and Tunisia; and communications from individuals who have been subjected to racial discrimination. The interactive dialogue with NZ government representatives will take place on 25 and 26 November 2025. NZ signed the Convention in 1966 and ratified it in 1972. It was initially given effect in domestic legislation, to some degree at least, by the 1971 Race Relations Act which established the Office of the Race Relations Conciliator. In 1977, the Race Relations Act was modified by the Human Rights Commission Act which established the Human Rights Commission; both Acts were replaced by the Human Rights Act in 1993. The Convention is not able to be fully implemented here because the constitutional arrangements arising from the notion of parliamentary supremacy mean that there is no way to prevent parliament from passing legislation that is racially discriminatory, or that breaches any of the other international human rights instruments, or to overturn such legislation when it is enacted - even though all of those instruments require effective protection and remedies for those whose rights have been violated. The NZ government is among the states that has not made an Article 14 declaration which would permit those subjected to racial discrimination to make communications to CERD. This is a curious anomaly because where it is a state party to other international human rights instruments, it generally does accept the competence of those Committees to consider complaints about human rights breaches in relation to their respective Covenants and Conventions, where such provisions exist. There has never been a satisfactory answer from any NZ government as to why this course of action is not allowed in relation to racial discrimination. However, as mentioned above, the early warning and urgent action procedure allows those who have been (or are about to be) subjected to racial discrimination by a state party to have their situation judged, and in 2005 the Committee considered a communication about the Foreshore and Seabed Act under this procedure. Their decision, that the legislation breached the Convention, as well as commentary on the decision, is available here. In November 2025, the National Urban Maori Authority filed a complaint under this procedure, but it will be some time before a decision is released. Successive NZ governments have met their requirement to send periodic reports to the Committee, beginning with their first report in 1973 to CERD's 9th session. Since then, most of New Zealand's reports have been consolidated periodic reports (one document covering more than one periodic reporting round), as lisfor example, the eighth and ninth reports were submitted as one document in 1990, and the periodic report submitted in 1994 covered the tenth and eleventh reporting rounds. A list of all of the NZ government's periodic reports to CERD is available here. In October 2021, a copy of the draft consolidated 23rd and 24th periodic report was released by the Ministry of Justice for public consultation, with a closing date of 23 November 2021. There was no specific attempt made to consult with hapū and iwi about the contents of the report. The consolidated Periodic Report of New Zealand (CERD/C/NZL/23-24) was submitted to the Committee in December 2021. A separate document of Annexes with information about Tokelau, a "glossary of Māori terms", a list with commercial and financial redress for signed Treaty Settlement Deeds between 2016 and 12 November 2021, and statistical information was also submitted. Having examined the consolidated periodic report and the information provided by the government in December 2021 on their implementation of the 2017 Concluding Observations, CERD put together a List of Themes - topics the Committee is particularly interested in discussing with government representatives during the interactive dialogues on 25 and 26 November 2025 - earlier this year. The List of Themes (CERD/C/NZL/Q/23-24) was released in September 2025 and is available here. Fourteen NGOs or iwi organisations provided information to the Committee - including Te Puna Rangahau o te Wai Ariki / Aotearoa Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, Te Hunga Roia Maori o Aotearoa / Maori Law Society, and the National Iwi Chairs Forum - and there were four reports from individuals: all of the reports are available on this page (scroll down to the 'New Zealand' section and expand the 'Info from Civil Society Organizations' tab). If you would like to be added to the human rights NGO information mailing list to receive updates about the UN human rights bodies and New Zealand, or assistance with writing reports, please contact Peace Movement Aotearoa. The Committee's most recent Concluding Observations (CERD/C/NZL/CO/21-22), 25 August 2017 - on the government's consolidated 21st to 22nd periodic report - are available here. Prior to 2017, the Committee commented on the government's compliance with the Convention in their April 2013 Concluding Observations (CERD/C/NZL/CO/18-20) on the consolidated 18th to 20th periodic report; in their 2007 Concluding Observations (CERD/C/NZL/CO/17) on the consolidated 15th to 17th periodic report; and in 2005, as mentioned above, in their decision on the Foreshore and Seabed Act (CERD/C/DEC/NZL/1, 11 March 2005). The Committee's Concluding Observations (A/57/18, paras.412-434) in 2002 on NZ's consolidated twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports are available here; and the Concluding Observations (A/50/18, paras.399-459) in 1995 on NZ's consolidated tenth and eleventh periodic reports are available here. Updated information will be available here soon.
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The Convention