Historic convictions for sex between men in New Zealand will be quashed, Justice Minister Amy Adams has announced this afternoon.
In a significant victory for campaigners, the move will allow nearly 200 people convicted before homosexual law reform in 1986 to have their convictions erased.
LISTEN ABOVE:Â JUSTICE MINISTER AMY ADAMS SPEAKS TO LARRY WILLIAMS
It will not be an automatic or blanket pardon. Instead, the Government will consider pardons on a case-by-case basis.
The Ministry of Justice estimates around 879 people were convicted of homosexual acts before legalisation in 1986. Around 80 per cent are believed to have convictions which would still be offences under today's law, including under-age sex offences.
The policy change in New Zealand comes after Britain agreed in October to pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted under obsolete legislation.
It is known as the "Alan Turing law" after the World War 2 code-breaker who was posthumously pardoned for his gross indecency conviction in 2013.
The policy change in New Zealand is in response to a petition by gay rights campaigner Wiremu Demchick, who requested a law change which set out a process for reversing convictions for consensual homosexual acts.
Demchick had hoped the Government would go further by carrying out a systematic review of all historic convictions.
The select committee which considered the petition heard from Kiwi men who said they were still haunted and traumatised by their convictions 30 years on.
Some of them said they had lost out on jobs or felt they were at a disadvantage when they went through background checks, or had abandoned careers because of their conviction.
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