The Sensible Sentencing Trust is planing to defy the Electoral Finance Act, by campaigning against political parties whose crime polices don't measure up to its expectations.
Spokesman Garth McVicar says the Trust will be distributing DVDs and other material during the election campaign which may contravene the Act.
He says the law is so badly drafted, even lawyers advising the Trust what it can do are confused.
McVicar says they will be advising people which parties and which policies it believes will make New Zealand a safer place.
The Act limits advertising spending by lobby groups soliciting votes for or against a party, unless they register as a third party.
Groups of a similar bent, including Family First, have run afoul of the law's possible restrictions already, having to abandon a pamphlet series critcising the Government on its stance on civil unions, the repeal of the Section 59 defence for striking a child, and prostitution law reform.
McVicar believes the gambit would pay off, saying membership would skyrocket were the Trust to be dragged through the courts.
A legal opinion issued to Family First by Bell Gully suggested the law might trigger section 14 of the Bill of Rights Act (the right to freedom of expression) but that a party would not be able to bet on a surefire claim of such a breach in the courts. Even if they could, legislation inconsistent with the Bill of Rights still presides over it.
Family First could have had the option of registering as a third party, but director Bob McCoskrie claims the administrative issues involved would be too difficult.
Meanwhile, McVicar says the Trust has a "Plan B" if it gets into trouble.
He says victims of crime will step forward and run the campaign under their own names.