NEW Zealand's parliament has rushed through a law to validate the oaths taken by dozens of police officers, after learning they were wrongly sworn in.
The government had to pass the law under urgency on Thursday to avoid the possibility that the officers' actions might be challenged by people they had arrested or investigated.
Police Minister Anne Tolley brought the bill in, saying a law change made in 2008 was misinterpreted by the police and 63 officers - constables who had left and later rejoined - were wrongly sworn in between October 2009 and July this year.
They were sworn in by district commanders or inspectors who weren't authorised to administer the oath.
"This is terrible, I'm not making any excuses for the police and I'm very cross," Tolley told reporters.
"I'm really disappointed and embarrassed - I'm the one who has to sit in parliament and take the scorn that's being dished out in there."
Tolley said the bill had to be kept under wraps until it reached parliament because if the "very bad administrative cock-up" had become known before it was passed some people who had been prosecuted, convicted or investigated could have mounted legal challenges on the grounds that the officers weren't properly warranted.
She didn't know how many people had been arrested by the officers, and didn't know whether anyone was going to lose their job over the blunder.
It's the second time parliament has had to pass a law validating police oaths - in 2009 it was discovered recruits had been incorrectly sworn in.
Opposition MPs blamed Tolley and her predecessor in the police portfolio, Judith Collins.
"Not even your constables are sworn in properly," Labour's police spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern told Tolley.
"Ministers should have ensured this didn't happen."
The Greens have asked Auditor-General Lyn Provost to hold an inquiry.
"Simply passing this law doesn't answer the question of why this happened," said justice spokesman David Clendon.
Opposition MPs widened their attack to cover numerous blunders that have been made during National's term in office.
They all agreed, however, that the bill had to be passed and it went through all its stages on unanimous votes.
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