61 considerations and the fact that governments’ a ppetites for ordinary legislation will consume every available expert. The more laws that modern societies enact, the more important it becomes that citizens are provided with proper access. The law reform environment 124 This is not the place to get into a comparison of the methodologies of the statute and the common law. The common law does, however, have at least one advantage over the statute, that is, that the common law can change of its own accord. It does not require an Act of Parliament. An Act of Parliament can change the common law, and frequently does, but it is not essential. The problem the common law faces, however,  is  that  it  moves  cautiously  and  haphazardly.  The  establishment  of precedent takes time, sometimes decades. The right cases have to present themselves and the parties have to be willing to pursue them through the hierarchy of courts. There  is  no  certainty  until  the  highest  appellate  court  decides.  There  is  no  law reform programme within the common law. Ground-breaking shifts of policy are rare. In the world of the statute they happen all the time. 125 The problem the statute faces, at least in some legislatures (of which New Zealand is one), is that it is often only the ground-breaking measures that get passed. The reasons   relate   usually   to   a   lack   of   parliamentary   time,   a   lack   of   necessary departmental resources, or both. This is difficult territory because there are always examples that can be used to suggest that the perception is unreliable. However, in general,   I   believe   this   is   true   of   the   New   Zealand   legislative   environment. Governments do not bring Bills before Parliament to change the law unless they have a particular wish to make policy changes and Parliaments do not enact those Bills unless they agree it is desirable to make the change. Whether a Bill proposes a major reform or just a technical adjustment, there has to be a policy imperative.