Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill
The bill would make an offender's failure to disclose the location of a victim's remains an aggravating sentencing factor and would generally require the Parole Board to refuse parole until the prisoner has cooperated satisfactorily in locating the victim.
- Closing date
- 3 September 2026
- Added to Civics
- 24 July 2026
- Source category
- Parliamentary
- Source body
- Justice Committee
- Last checked
- 24 July 2026
Closes in 41 days
Plain-English summary
The Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill is intended to encourage offenders to help locate a victim's body and recognise the continuing anguish caused to families by non-disclosure. A sentencing court would have to treat failure to disclose the location as an aggravating factor.
The Parole Board would also be required to refuse parole unless satisfied that the prisoner had cooperated satisfactorily with the investigation to identify the location. Submissions can address the design, fairness and likely effectiveness of both consequences.
Why it matters
The bill seeks to address the continuing harm experienced by families unable to recover and lay a victim's remains to rest.
It would change sentencing and parole decisions, engaging questions about proportionality, evidence and prisoner rights.
Who may care
- Victims' families, victim-support organisations and missing-person advocates
- Criminal lawyers, prisoners' rights groups, corrections staff and parole specialists
How to make a submission
- Read the bill and explanatory material linked from Parliament's submission page.
- Make an online submission to the Justice Committee before 11:59pm on the closing date.
Disclaimer
Civics.nz is an independent plain-English guide and is not an official government website. Always check the official source before making a submission.