Parliament has given a third reading to the Private International Law (Choice of Law in Tort) Bill.

The bill clarifies which jurisdiction’s law is applicable in actions of tort and provides guidance to the courts on matters of characterisation.

The bill also abolishes certain common law rules dealing with actionability and sets out the general rule that the applicable law will be the law of the country in which the events constituting the tort in question occur.

It will come into force 15 days after the Royal assent.

The Private Member's Bill was introduced by National MP Sarah Dowie. The New Zealand Law Society submitted on the bill, supporting its abolition of the double-actionability choice of law rule for tort, and the establishment in its place of a simplified place-of the-wrong choice of law rule with a flexible exception for appropriate circumstances.