A Hastings man is seeking $250,000 in damages from the police after they accidentally shot him in 2013. 

Lawyers acting for Iriheke Te Kani Manu Pere filed the civil action in the High Court at Wellington this week. 

The action sought a declaration that the police breached a section of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act guaranteeing Pere's right to be "treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity to life". 

Pere was 33 when he was shot by a member of the Armed Offenders Squad while handcuffed on the ground outside his Karamu Rd North home in August 2013. 

At the time, Pere had 41 convictions including for violent offending, a complex history of mental health difficulties, and had been the subject of a previous call-out by the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS), in 2009. 

Police went to his house in 2013 after being told he appeared to be psychotic and had a BB gun in his room. 

Pere surrendered to police and was lying face-down on the ground handcuffed when an AOS member, identified as Officer Z4, stepped forward help lift him to his feet. 

A buckle on Officer Z4's vest caught on the trigger of his rifle, and a single round fired into Pere's back. 

Pere suffered a collapsed lung, injury to blood vessels, and had shrapnel from the bullet in his upper back, chest and neck. He was in hospital for a month. 

Officer Z4 was charged with careless use of a firearm causing injury but acquitted after a jury trial in February 2016. 

Pere's counsel Eric Forster also sought a declaration that police acted in a way that breached New Zealand's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

Forster submitted that an award of $250,000 against the police would be justified. 

"It is a fair and proportionate award that gives the community confidence that if the police transgress reasonably expected standards, then the police will be held accountable," Forster said. 

Justice Francis Cooke heard lawyers' submissions on Monday and reserved his decision. 

- Ric Stevens, Open Justice