Law Reform in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff McLay
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Law Reform

scholarly journals Should New Zealand Shirk Its Obligations? A Critical Perspective on Private Law Scholarship

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 429
Author(s):  
Bevan Marten ◽  
Geoff McLay
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Compensation Scheme ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Party Autonomy ◽  
Accident Compensation

This article concerns the role of the private law scholar in New Zealand, and how such scholars use their skills to improve the law. It argues that while an obligations scholar's preference may be to engage with the courts and other academics in their scholarly activities, a focus on statutory reform better suits New Zealand conditions. Scholars should share their talents with policy makers, law reform bodies and legislators, helping to explain the importance of a coherent system of private law, and how this may be achieved. The authors then go a step further by suggesting that, in the New Zealand context, the preferable approach to reform may be one involving policy-based solutions exemplified by the accident compensation scheme, as opposed to approaches based on traditional private law principles such as party autonomy.

Corporal Punishment: Law Reform Lessons for Australia from South Africa and New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laetitia-Ann Greeff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
National Level ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
In Loco Parentis ◽  
A Charge ◽  
The Impact

This article compares the law reform methods employed by South Africa and New Zealand to eliminate the defence of ‘moderate and reasonable chastisement’ to a charge of common assault, to determine the best possible law reform strategy for Australian jurisdictions, within the context of its federal system of governance. South Africa and New Zealand banned corporal punishment on a national level, with South Africa prohibiting the use of corporal punishment by way of the judicial condemnation of the Constitutional Court in 2019, and New Zealand’s legislation to ban corporal punishment through Parliamentary processes in 2007. Corporal punishment in the home is still legal in Australia if administered by parents or those in loco parentis. This article focuses on the three Australian States that have enacted human rights legislation—Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Queensland—and the impact of this legislation on judicial law reform. In this regard, the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty is discussed in terms of its ability to limit public interest litigation’s viability to strike down inconsistent legislation. The article suggests that all three countries can learn from one another concerning the successes and/or failures of law reform. Furthermore, the article concludes by acknowledging that even though formal abolition is the norm in South Africa and New Zealand, corporal punishment remains widespread. Parents and those in loco parentis must be supported by continual education initiatives to bring about requisite social and cultural change.

Proposed criminal law reform in New Zealand

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136
Author(s):  
Richard G. Singer
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Law Reform

scholarly journals Indigenous People in Aotearoa New Zealand are Overrepresented in Cannabis Convictions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Scarf ◽  
Wetini Atutahi Rapana ◽  
Taylor Winter ◽  
Benjamin Riordan ◽  
Ririwai Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
No Reduction ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
National Statistics ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Level Data

Background: Previous work has demonstrated that cannabis laws have had a disproportionate impact on Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. In an attempt to address this bias, the New Zealand Government amended cannabis laws in 2019, providing police with the power to determine whether a health-centred approach would be more beneficial than a conviction. In the current study, we use population level data to assess whether this law change has ameliorated the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori.Methods: Data were drawn from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a large government database hosted by Aotearoa New Zealand’s national statistics office. After constructing the population in the IDI, and filtering down to those who 1) were between 18 and 65, 2) were Māori or Pākehā and, 3) had any cannabis charges that proceeded to the courts, we had a sample of over 2,000 individuals.Results: Māori ethnicity was a significant predictor of the likelihood of receiving a cannabis conviction for Māori males, with a marginal effect for Māori females. Further, there was no reduction in the number of cannabis charges before vs. after the amendment to cannabis laws.Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that the 2019 amendment has not ameliorated the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori. Given this, the New Zealand Government must follow other countries around the world and move forward on cannabis law reform.

scholarly journals New Zealand's Forgotten Appellate Court? The Native Affairs Committee, Petitions and Maori Land: 1871 to 1900

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Guy Finny
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Appellate Court ◽  
Government Power ◽  
Recommendations For Action ◽  
The 19Th Century

<p>The second half the 19th century witnessed one of the most complex and destructive chapters in New Zealand legal history. The Native Land Court, Land Laws and Crown purchase and confiscation policies combined to create confusion, uncertainty and grievance in Maori land ownership and transactions. In response, thousands of Maori, and some Europeans, petitioned Parliament. Around two thousand of these Maori land related petitions were referred to the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, many of which involved complex disputes and legal issues in relation to Maori land. In several respects, the petitioners were treating this Committee as a de-facto ’Maori Land Appellate Court’. However, the Committee was no such court. Instead, this paper argues the Committee was effectively operating as a ‘Maori Land Ombudsman’. Using petitions, Maori and Europeans would put their grievances and law reform suggestions before the Committee. In turn, the Committee would usually investigate and make recommendations for action. Although the Committee was ultimately unable to resolve many of the alleged grievances put before it, in a system where Maori had little political power, it fulfilled an important constitutional role as a check on judicial and government power in relation to Maori land interests.</p>

scholarly journals New Zealand's Forgotten Appellate Court? The Native Affairs Committee, Petitions and Maori Land: 1871 to 1900

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Guy Finny
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Appellate Court ◽  
Government Power ◽  
Recommendations For Action ◽  
The 19Th Century

<p>The second half the 19th century witnessed one of the most complex and destructive chapters in New Zealand legal history. The Native Land Court, Land Laws and Crown purchase and confiscation policies combined to create confusion, uncertainty and grievance in Maori land ownership and transactions. In response, thousands of Maori, and some Europeans, petitioned Parliament. Around two thousand of these Maori land related petitions were referred to the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, many of which involved complex disputes and legal issues in relation to Maori land. In several respects, the petitioners were treating this Committee as a de-facto ’Maori Land Appellate Court’. However, the Committee was no such court. Instead, this paper argues the Committee was effectively operating as a ‘Maori Land Ombudsman’. Using petitions, Maori and Europeans would put their grievances and law reform suggestions before the Committee. In turn, the Committee would usually investigate and make recommendations for action. Although the Committee was ultimately unable to resolve many of the alleged grievances put before it, in a system where Maori had little political power, it fulfilled an important constitutional role as a check on judicial and government power in relation to Maori land interests.</p>

In search of a privacy action against breaches of physical privacy in Hong Kong

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 225-247
Author(s):  
Jojo YC Mo
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Confidential Information ◽  
Canadian Province ◽  
Privacy Laws ◽  
The Law

The focus of privacy laws in Hong Kong has always been on the use and dissemination of personal or confidential information, but a person’s privacy can also be intruded by unwanted watching or listening irrespective of whether information is collected or used. Despite an attempt to introduce two privacy torts by the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong in 2004, there is no timetable as to when these two statutory torts be introduced. Recognition has been afforded for intrusions upon seclusion or solitude in a number of jurisdictions including New Zealand and the Canadian province of Ontario. In England, an intrusion tort has not been separately recognized, but the decision in Gulati v MGN confirmed that damages may still be awarded for an action for misuse of private information in instances where there is no disclosure or publication of the wrongfully acquired information. This article looks at the possibility of developing a common law action of privacy in Hong Kong which affords protection regardless of whether private information is acquired or published by drawing insights to the developments in New Zealand and England.

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