94NZLC R 14.
95NZLC R 29.
96NZLC R 38.
97NZLC R 39 (although implemented in part b y the Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001,
Family Proceedings Amendm ent Act 2001, and the Administration Amendment Act 2001 ).
98NZLC R 41.
99NZLC R 31.
65
133
As against this, there are a number of significant Commission reports that have not,
or not yet, borne fruit. They include Criminal Procedure: Part One: Disclosure and
Committal (1990)94 A New Property Law Act (1994)95, 3 reports on succession law
Succession Law: Homicidal Heirs (1997)96, Succession Law: A Succession
(Adjustment) Act (1997)97, and Succession Law: A Succession (Wills) Act (1997)98,
Police Questioning (1994) 99, and a 2-volume report on reform of evidence law
Evidence: Reform of the Law and Evidence: Code and Commentary (1999).
134
The Commission s proposals for new legislation on property law and wills stand out
as examples of excellent substantive modernisation initiatives, but they must have
government and parliamentary support if they are to materialise. A related problem,
but by no means an insignificant one, is that the longer it takes to implement law
reform proposals, the more difficult it becomes to do so. A momentum builds up
and with it the enthusiasm and determination that are essential to driving legislative
change. That has to be capitalised on, not left to evaporate. The Law Commissions
recommendation for new interpretation legislation was implemented almost a
decade after the Commissions report.
135
The key players in the Commission, Sir Kenneth Keith and the able researchers, had
moved on. The task of implementation fell to Professor Richard Sutton as acting
President and then to Sir Kenneths successor, Justice David Barag wanath, and a