¹Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Wellington, New Zealand. I am grateful to my colleagues, Geoff Lawn, Julie Melville, and  Ross Carter, for their com ments and assistance  willingly given in the preparation of this pap er.      2 W illiam Heinema nn: Harvard U niversity Press (1951). In the original Latin the passage reads “utque antehac flagitiis, ita tunc legibus laborabatur. Ea res admonet ut de principiis iuris et quibus modis ad hanc multidu dinem  infinitam ac varietatem legum p erventum sit altius d isseram .” 1 AUSTRALASIAN LAW REFORM AGENCIES CONFERENCE WELLINGTON 13 - 16 APRIL 2004 ACCESS TO JUSTICE: RHETORIC OR REALITY ——— LAW REFORM AND ACCESSIBILITY GEORGE TANNER¹ “...and where the country once suffered from its vices, it was now in peril from its laws. This circumstance suggests that I should discuss more deeply the origin of legislation and the processes which have resulted in the countless and complex statutes of today.” Tacitus, The Annals, Book III, XXV ² ———