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So you thought you lived in a free country did you? This recent
experience of one of my friends suggests otherwise. This friend,
let's call him BigNose, was recently stopped at a random
checkpoint somewhere in Auckland. He was sober and the car was OK
(mostly), but when the cop entered his name into the computer it
flagged BigNose as owing $11,000 in outstanding fines. As you
may be aware New Zealand has this delightful law, whereby if you are
stopped by the police for any reason and are found to have more than
$800 in outstanding fines it means an instant night in the
cells. Thus, BigNose got a free stay in the lock-up.
The following morning, his lawyer came down to the cop shop and sorted
everything out. It transpires that it was a massive clerical
error. BigNose had been fined $1100 the previous year and he had
promptly payed it in February. However, when the clerk entered the
information into the Justice Depts. computer, she not only entered the
sum as an amount owing rather than as an amount payed, but she
also added an extra 0 for good measure. It was a clear cut case
of wrongful arrest. BigNose's lawyer managed to sort this mess
out but advised that it was not worth trying to prosecute or sue the
police for wrongful arrest as it would take a lot of effort and he
wouldn't stand to get much compensation anyway.
This is just another case of New Zealander's rights and freedoms being
erroded by asinine laws. I guess this explains why PM Shipley sided
with Malaysia after Bob Dole's speech. With the drivers license laws
slated to come into being next year the likelihood of being arrested
whilst not committing any offence is only going to increase.
