Election 2014: Introduction

With the General Election to be held on 20 September, LawTalk has sought out the views of political parties in relation to some legal matters. As it has done for the last four elections, LawTalk put specific questions to the parties rather than asking them for general policy statements. We…

Democrats for Social Credit

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? DSC core policy is a reform of the economy, so that whatever is socially and environmentally desirable, and physically possible, is financially affordable. Therefore our key objective for justice is to fund…

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives?  Our objectives are to pardon and release all cannabis only prisoners, quash all historical cannabis convictions and issue compensation to people criminalised because of the inherently unjust cannabis prohibition laws. We plan…

New Zealand First

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives?  Human Rights – Broaden scope of NZBORA.  Court Efficiency – Funding to accelerate E-Courts.  Disputes Tribunal – Appoint both trained lay people and lawyers.  Access to justice – Ensure people are not priced out of…

New Zealand Labour Party

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? Labour’s principal objective in the justice portfolio is to ensure the system properly plays its role in maintaining the law and good order. Public confidence in our justice system is critical, and…

NZ Independent Coalition

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? We support legislation that will: Support the formulation of a criminal case review commission to manage alleged miscarriages of justice based on the British model. In criminal prosecutions we seek proper disclosure,…

The New Zealand National Party

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? National is building a safer New Zealand. We embarked on a comprehensive programme of reform to protect communities, prevent crime, and put victims first. We now have the lowest crime rate in…

ACT New Zealand

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? Act believes strongly in the rule of law and the protection of property and the person. Without these, society does not function properly. Act wants three strikes for burglary. Any erosion of the…

MANA Movement

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? MANA will develop a tikanga-based system to respond to wrongdoing which would focus on investing in community and whānau wellbeing, including addressing poverty and creating employment, so people are better able to…

Māori Party

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? Whānau who engage with the justice system are faced with numerous challenges in terms of how they are treated in that engagement. The Māori Party calls for a review into the justice…

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? Community-based mediation, restoration and rehabilitation, together with a transparent and fair judicial and legal system, is at the heart of the Green Party’s justice policy. We believe that the best way to…

UnitedFuture New Zealand

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? UnitedFuture is committed to reducing the rate of recidivism. We will make suitable employment and accommodation integral components of the parole process and encourage the use of creative and individualised parole provisions…

Conservative Party of New Zealand

What are your party’s key objectives in the justice portfolio and how do you plan to meet these objectives? The Conservative Party wishes to increase maximum prison sentences for violent offences, those which are home invasion offences and offences involving financial crime, particularly where there are vulnerable victims. This would result…

From the Law Society

Who is my client? And what do they want me to do? These might seem like obvious questions with obvious answers. However, things change for our clients, their family set-ups and their goals and for our own businesses and the professional landscape in which we work. The law itself changes, too, and we…

People in the law

The Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson QC has been appointed Acting Minister of Justice. This follows the resignation of former Minister of Justice Judith Collins from the Cabinet. Auckland lawyer Sue Simons has been reappointed to the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board. Ms Simons is a partner of Berry Simons, a specialist environmental…

Law firm news

Wain & Naysmith Lawyers and Crichton Loach Lawyers are set to join forces on 1 October. This move will see the merged firm become the second largest law firm in Marlborough. It will also have the biggest proportion of women in senior roles, with five of the seven senior lawyers…

Inaugural Auckland moot

Campbell Herbert and Alexandra Sinclair from Team Chapman Tripp and the Ministry of Justice took out the top prize in the inaugural New Zealand Law Foundation NZLS Auckland Branch Young Lawyers Mooting Competition, held throughout July and August. This was the first year the competition was held in Auckland, after being…

Increase communication and collaboration with your clients

In-house lawyers are often in the dual position of being both advisor and client. Being the advisor to the business unit and client of an external service provider means that large scale projects become complex exercises in organisation and communication. CLANZmini 2014 is focusing this year on Legal Project Management (LPM),…

Strengthening the positive

Positive Psychology (PP) is a relatively new field within the discipline of psychology. Knowledge from PP has been transforming the way we think about well-being, and how we enhance it. Organisations are also paying attention to PP research due to the relationship that has been demonstrated between improved well-being and…

Some interesting blips in lawyer incomes

Just under half (49%) of New Zealand’s lawyers reported before-tax personal income over $100,000 in the year to 31 March 2013. By contrast, 9% of all employed New Zealanders aged 15 and over had income over $100,000.  The customised information on lawyer incomes has been prepared by Statistics New Zealand. While…

Forget all those billable hour jokes

Statistics New Zealand also provided customised information on the hours usually worked in employment by New Zealand lawyers and judges (we all know how much they earn, so they were omitted in the information on incomes). Our judiciary came out as the hardest workers, with over 18% saying they worked 60…

Review of small business unfair contract regime premature

A review of the unfair contract terms regime in New Zealand legislation is premature and there is a question as to whether it is necessary, the New Zealand Law Society says. This is stated in the Law Society’s comments on a consultation paper, Extending Unfair Contract Term Protections to Small Business,…

Problems if 'the Crown' is defined

It would be desirable if use of the outdated and somewhat obscure expression “the Crown” is directly addressed and resolved in securing a new Crown Civil Proceedings Act for New Zealand, the New Zealand Law Society says. The Law Society considers the concept of “the Crown” in its comments on the…

Act should not define rights or liability of Crown

The New Zealand Law Society agrees that a new Crown Civil Proceedings Act should be a procedural statute that does not seek to define the substantive rights or liability of the Crown. Rather, a new Act should provide a mechanism by which courts can determine those substantive rights, it says in…

Simple and universal Responsible Lending Code supported

The New Zealand Law Society says it supports efforts to construct a Responsible Lending Code with explanatory guidance notes for both lenders and consumers. The Law Society has provided comments on a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment discussion document on the Code. It says the most effective Code would be…

'Excessive remuneration' examples of limited practical help

Examples of “excessive remuneration” provided in an Inland Revenue exposure draft are of limited practical help and “real and useful” examples should be published, the New Zealand Law Society says. In comments on the Exposure Draft Meaning of “excessive remuneration” and “excessive profits or losses” paid or allocated to relatives, partners,…

The Bookshelf

Multinational publishers made $15.1 million in NZ in 2013 The three multinational professional information publishers operating in New Zealand reported total after-tax profit of $15.124 million in the 2013 calendar year. This was a large increase on the 2012 combined after-tax profit of $6.033 million. Part of the uplift came from a…

New guidelines on unfair contract terms

The Commerce Commission released draft unfair contract terms guidelines on 31 July 2014. These guidelines relate to new provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1986 dealing with terms in standard form consumer contracts. These new provisions will come into force on 17 March 2015. Businesses that use standard form consumer contracts…

Free access to confidential safety service

From 1 October 2014, free access to a confidential safety service for victims is one of the ways the Ministry of Justice is addressing this country’s rates of domestic violence. This service will be available in the criminal jurisdiction to adult victims of domestic violence and to those who apply for…

Women in law conference web stream brings major 'first'

Two major “firsts” will take place with the NZLS CLE Ltd women in law conference later this year. Entitled Women, the Law – and the Corner Office, this will be the first major women’s conference that NZLS CLE has run. It will also be the first time NZLS CLE has live-streamed a…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer must apologise for tardy billing

The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has ordered a lawyer, A, to apologise to a former client after rendering a final account about 4½ years after the client had terminated A’s services. The Tribunal, in [2014] NZLCDT 33, found A guilty of unsatisfactory conduct. The complainant, B, had engaged A’s…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer in intimate relationship with client suspended

Tauranga lawyer Craig Ronald Horsley has been suspended from legal practice for three years, running from 4 April 2014, after he told the Law Society he was not in an intimate relationship with a client when he was. Mr Horsley faced two charges before the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Delays lead to significant fine

A barrister, G, was engaged to act for Ms F in a parenting dispute with the father of her daughter. Ms F complained of G’s delays, his failures to report, his failures to take steps as instructed and his delays in forwarding the files when she changed to a new…