The keynote address to the Open Source/Open Society Conference, delivered on 22 August 2016. The address introduces Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Dr Andrew Butler’s new book, A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand, and discusses the shortcomings of New Zealand’s unwritten constitution

This paper will examine the ways in which parent companies within corporate groups can be held liable by means of common law doctrines and statutory principles. Where a subsidiary company within a corporate group becomes insolvent and is unable to pay its creditors in full, the principles of...

Deficiencies in the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) have led to allegations of sham trusts, alter ego trusts, the bundle of rights doctrine and illusory trusts. These claims are not the correct means to deal with the failure of legislation to fulfil its intention. They are ill-suited for...

This paper sets out how the law (being the law as at April 2019) relating to high-cost lending, is enforced. It identifies the current problems with enforcement that have been recognised in the policy papers to date, and outlines the reforms proposed in the 10 October 2018 reform package. It...

This report sets out the results of research by Victoria University of Wellington on certain key issues around debt collection in the context of lending under consumer credit contracts in New Zealand, as at date of writing (August 2019). The proposed changes to the law (in the October 2018...

The ACC scheme has long been criticised for the boundaries it has placed on coverage under the Act. This paper will focus on the Act's treatment of mental injuries, in light of the Government's recent decision not to extend coverage for ‘purely' mental injuries following the Christchurch...

There is currently an inequitable gap in compensation under the Accident Compensation Act, whereby claimants who suffer from a mental injury after an accident but not a physical injury cannot get compensation. The purpose of this paper is to consider this gap in compensation by analysing a...

This paper concerns the issue of purchase money security interest (PMSI) refinancing. Under current law, PMSI super-priority is lost on refinance regardless of whether the refinancier is the original PMSI holder or a third-party financier. This paper contends that such a position is...

In Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association Inc v Brett, the New Zealand Court of Appeal grappled with the rare issue of whether a person can waive their right to freedom of expression under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). The Court, responding in the affirmative, concluded...

The current procedures for reporting sexual harassment claims are failing those who need to use them. The systems do not reflect the true nature and effects sexual harassment in the workplace can have, nor are conducive to producing viable evidence and proof to back up these claims. This paper...