would  have  empowered  courts  to  strike  down  legislation  incompatible  with  the guarantees of human rights that it contains.⁷ 10 Despite the fact that the Bill of Rights has produced an avalanche of decisions in the  courts  (there  were  577  appeals  raising  Bill  of  Rights  issues  in  the  Court  of Appeal in the first 13 years), 8 for the most part the impact has been confined to the  criminal  law.  Its  full  effect  on  civil  litigation  is  yet  to  be  felt,  as  Sir  Ivor Richardson has pointed out: ⁹ “On  the  civil  and  public  law  side  there  is  a  developing  awareness,  assisted  by information  on  the  breadth  of  coverage  under  the  United  Kingdom  Act,  of  the potential reach of the Bill of Rights in statutory interpretation and the exercise of statutory discretion and on the  development of the common law in fields as varied as   free   expression,   administrative   law,   commercial   law,   employment   law, environmental and planning law, family law, education, health, housing and social welfare law,  intellectual property and sports law.” 11 I  have  been  surprised  at  the  relatively  low  level  of  awareness  within  the  legal profession  of  the  potential  impact  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  in  fields  beyond  the criminal law.  There is much scope and over time more impact will be felt in other fields.  The New Zealand Law Society made strong submissions against a Bill of Rights  for  New  Zealand  and  I  do  think  professional  thinking  has  been  slow  to change.  There is much more for commercial clients in the Bill of Rights than has yet  been  yielded.    After  all,  all  legal  persons  can  claim  its  protection,  not  only individuals. 12 Much of the reach of the Bill of Rights as a restraint on government action flows from  its  parliamentary  nature.  The  Attorney-General  is  required  to  report  to Parliament  where  a  Bill  introduced  appears  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  Bill  of Rights. These legal opinions, known as vets, are now made public on the Ministry of Justice’s website. As of 31 August 2005, negative reports had been made on 36 occasions,  18  of  these  in  relation  to  Government  Bills.¹⁰  Parliament  can  pass                                                  7     For a full account of my experiences in attempting to pass the Bill of Rights see Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand’s Constitution in Crisis: Reforming our Political System  (McIndoe, Dunedin, 1992) 51-64. 8    Sir Ivor Richardson “The New Zealand Bill of Rights: Experience and Potential, including Implications for Commerce” (2004) 10 Canterbury L Rev 259, 260.   9   Sir Ivor Richardson above n 8, 268.   10   Andrew  Butler  and  Petra  Butler  The  New  Zealand  Bill  of  Rights  Act:  A  Commentary (LexisNexis, Wellington, 2005) para 8.13.1. 5