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 report outlines the findings of a research project that was co-funded by the Resolution Institute as part of Victoria University's 2018/19 Summer Scholarship programme. It forms part of the New Zealand Commercial Mediation Study (NZCMS).This report aims to provide insight into the practice...

This report delivers the results from the first project to systematically explore commercial mediation in New Zealand. A key aim of this project is to move the study of commercial mediation in New Zealand from anecdote to evidence. There has been a lot of talk about the growing importance of...

This report contains research following on from the 2015 study examining the nature of private commercial mediation in New Zealand. The aim of this research project is to examine gatekeepers’ perspectives on commercial mediation. There is a lack of empirical information on the nature and use...

This report outlines the findings of a research project that was co-funded by the Government Centre for Dispute Resolution as part of Victoria University of Wellington's 2020/2021 Summer Scholarship Programme. It forms part of the New Zealand Commercial Mediation Study. This report aims to...

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...