[JURIST] New Zealand Prime Minister John Key [official profile] announced [press release] Monday a targeted review of the nation’s legislation “in relation to foreign terrorist fighters.” The four-week review will be led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and, according to Key, “is likely to recommend that some urgent changes be made to legislation.” The PM acknowledged that the government knows “that a small number of New Zealanders have travelled overseas to engage in the fighting. We’re also aware of people within New Zealand who have a desire to travel and fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).” According to the press release, any interim measures taken

to address the foreign fighters issue be subject to a sunset clause so they will expire if not carried forward by the 2015 statutory review of the intelligence agencies, their legislation and their oversight.

In addition to the review of legislation, Key also announced that the national terrorist threat level [chart, PDF] had been raised from very low to low.

ISIL [BBC backgrounder, JURIST news archive], commonly referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has been causing increasing international alarm over its escalating human rights abuses since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq [CNN timeline] that began in early 2013, prompting strong denouncements and military action against the group. Earlier this month the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official websites] jointly released [JURIST report] a report detailing the staggering amount of human rights abuses that have occurred under ISIL. Recent airstrikes against ISIS by the US and several Arab countries were defended [JURIST report] to the UN as necessary and consistent with the UN Charter [text] to defend Iraq and protect the US from terrorism. In September the newly-appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad, decried [JURIST report] ISIL for its recent killings and human rights violations of women in ISIL-controlled areas in Iraq.