IPBA conference delayed by six months due to coronavirus

The Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) annual conference, due to be held in April, has been postponed until later this year due to fears over the novel coronavirus – which has now been renamed COVID-19. The conference, which is to be held in Shanghai, China, will now take place on 18-21 October. A…

Legal Aid advises on multiple fee claims for same activity

The Ministry of Justice's Legal Aid Services says its policy where separate grants/charges are sentenced at the same hearing is that only one claim can be made for the sentencing activity and hearing time. "In the same way, it has been Legal Aid Service’s expectation that multiple fees for the same…

Motueka company fined for mismanagement of asbestos removal

Motueka company Bays Boating Ltd was fined $108,000 at the Nelson District Court on 7 February after a WorkSafe prosecution for the unsafe removal of asbestos. WorkSafe says the company was prosecuted under sections 49(1), 49(2)(c) and 36(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. It says Bays Boating Ltd…

Ombudsman considers privacy of SSC chief executive salary details

The State Services Commission has updated the information it makes available in its Senior Pay Reports after an investigation by the Chief Ombudsman into information about public service chief executive remuneration. A case note released by Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says an Official Information Act request sought a detailed break-down of…

Authority rejects complaint about Lundy joke

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has not upheld a complaint that a joke on television programme The Project referring to murderer Mark Lundy breached the good taste and decency standard. A segment on the Three programme called ‘Scenes from New Zealand’ features funny personalised car number plates sent in by viewers. After an…

New status for indigenous Australians in landmark High Court of Australia ruling

The High Court of Australia has released a landmark decision, Love v Commonwealth of Australia [2020] HCA 3 (11 February 2020), ruling by majority that Aboriginal Australians are not within the reach of the “aliens” power conferred by s 51 (xix) of the Constitution. Two overseas-born indigenous men faced deportation from…

Professor Amokura Kawharu to be Law Commission President

Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed the next President of the Law Commission. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. Associate Professor Kawharu, whose iwi affiliations are Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua, holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law degrees (with…

First conviction under Overseas Investment Act 2005

Land Information New Zealand says an overseas investor has pleaded guilty and been convicted and fined $100,000 in the Auckland District Court for misleading the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) during an investigation into a property transaction. The investor's lawyer, Dr Jaeho Choi, has pleaded guilty to the same charge and LINZ…

Reminder of need to tell OIO if director changes

When the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) is processing an application, if there is a change in directors of the relevant overseas person, it is the responsibility of the applicant (or their representatives) to update the OIO, it says. "You will need to do this as soon as you are aware of…

Homo Homini Award 2019 goes to Tajik lawyer

The Homo Homini Award for 2019 will be presented to jailed Tajik lawyer Buzurgmehr Yorov. The award is presented annually by Czech human rights organisation People in Need. The presentation ceremony will be held on 5 March at the opening of the One World Film Festival. Because Mr Yorov is imprisoned, the…