much more difficult ever to see the body of law as a whole.  This is a situation that gives  some  credence  to  post-modern  legal  theories.    The  law  cannot  be  found, cannot be made sense of and often appears to lack ascertainable principles.    26 Issues concerning the rule of law also stem from this proliferation.  In a recent address,  Justice  Grant  Hammond  of  the  New  Zealand  Court  of  Appeal  made  a most  thoughtful  and  charming  set  of  observations  by  looking  at  New  Zealand through  the  eyes  of  Sarah,  who  visits  New  Zealand  from  a  far  flung  planet.¹⁶   Sarah finds the gap between the ideal of  the rule of law and the reality in New Zealand to be deeply troublesome:¹⁷ This   is   because   the   New   Zealand   legal   system   is,   in   operation,   distinctly inequitable and inefficient.  This industrious little country keeps pumping out more law than any comparable jurisdiction in the galaxy.  But in practice it is only for those  who  can  afford  it.    For  those  who  cannot  afford  all  this  law,  and  who  are likely   to   need   it   most,   there   is   far   too   little   law.      She   thinks   (legal   aid notwithstanding) that most Kiwis find their legal rights hopelessly compromised by the cost of legal services, the extraordinary procedural complications produced by the   law,   and   the   seemingly   interminable   and   frustrating   delays   involved   in advancing proceedings to anything like a conclusion. 27 Sarah cannot understand why New Zealand has put up with  this state of affairs.   She  is  concerned  about  whether  the  tireless  law  generating  activity  in  New Zealand  actually  produces  good  outputs.    She  is  worried  about  whether  New Zealand  would  receive  a  pass  mark  concerning  its  appreciation  of  the  role  and limits of law.  She tends to the view that a small-scale society could get by with fewer rules.  She also finds that the spirit of producing progressive solutions to legal problems that was pioneered in New Zealand seems to have been lost.    28 What concerns me most in taking over the helm at the Law Commission at this time is the relative failure to look at the body of our laws as a whole, and impose on them some organising pattern or principles that will enable our legal system to work  effectively  and  fairly  in  practice.    Simply  adding  to  the  bulk  of  the  law without  considering  its  overall  pattern  is  problematic.    It  was  this  thought  that                                                  16   Hon   Justice   Hammond,   “Law   from   Afar”   (address   to   the   North   American   Alumni Association, 4 November 2005). 17   The degree to which Sarah’s view accords with Justice Hammond’s view is not a matter I can comment on.  Judges must be careful in their extra-judicial utterances, no doubt.    10