Section 134 — Immigration Act 2009: Whether to accept claim for consideration

134 Whether to accept claim for consideration (1) In determining whether to accept a claim for consideration, a refugee and protection officer may take into account whether,— (a) in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for refugee status in another country: (b) in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for protection in another country: (c) 1 or more of the circumstances relating to the claim were brought about by the claimant— (i) acting otherwise than in good faith; and (ii) for a purpose of creating grounds for recognition under section 129 . (2) A refugee and protection officer may decline to accept a claim for consideration where,— (a) in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for refugee status in another country: (b) in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for protection in another country. (3) A refugee and protection officer must decline to accept for consideration a claim for recognition as a refugee if the officer is satisfied that 1 or more of the circumstances relating to the claim were brought about by the claimant— (a) acting otherwise than in good faith; and (b) for a purpose of creating grounds for recognition under section 129 . (4) For the purposes of determining the matter in subsection (3), the refugee and protection officer must not treat the actions of any other person in relation to the claim or the claimant as a mitigating factor. (5) In this section, international arrangement or agreement means an arrangement or agreement— (a) between New Zealand and 1 or more other countries in respect of the processing of claims for refugee or protection status; and (b) that was entered into only after the Minister was satisfied that— (i) the country is a party to the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and (ii) the country has appropriate processes for dealing with refugee and protection claims.