The New Zealand parliament on Tuesday night unanimously passed a bill that is expected to allow about 1,000 men to apply to have past convictions for homosexual activity removed from their criminal records. Homosexuality was decriminalized in New Zealand in 1986, but men who were convicted before that date still have the convictions on their records.

Under the new law, family members will also be able to apply to have the criminal records of a deceased relative cleared.

"I would like to apologize again to all the men and members of the rainbow community who have been affected by the prejudice, stigma and other negative effects caused by convictions for historical homosexual offences," Justice Minister Andrew Little said.

Righting wrongs

"This bill sends a clear signal that discrimination against gay people is no longer acceptable, and that we are committed to putting right wrongs from the past," Little said.

The convictions that can be erased relate to three offences that were removed in 1986 — sodomy, indecency between males and keeping a place of resort for homosexual acts, and two from 1908 involving "unnatural offences" committed with another male.

Applicants would have to show that, on the balance of probabilities, the sexual conduct they were convicted of is no longer illegal, which will generally involve an assessment of whether the activity was consensual and involved adults over the age of 16. Read more via DW