of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force contains
the following entry:
Animal Control Products Limited Act 1991;
Animal Identification Act 1993;
Animal Products (Ancillary and Transitional Provisions) Act 1999;
Animal Welfare Act 1999;
Animals. See also Animal Remedies; Wild Animal Control; Wildlife;
Animals Law Reform Act 1989.
36
There is a great deal more in the statute book about animals than mentioned in the
entry. For example, the Dog Control Act 1996. I do not need to labour the point;
our indexing is inadequate. Furthermore, it makes the New Zealand statute book
virtually totally inaccessible to those that need use it overseas, since those users
usually do not have the annual Tables referred to above. These are separately
published in soft cover, although they are now also available on the Parliamentary
Counsel Office website.
37
Since MMP, it can no longer be said that New Zealand is the fastest law-maker in
the west, but we are surely quite accomplished at making the law hard to find.
This needs to be fixed. We now have, in large measure due to the combined
efforts of the Law Commission and the Parliamentary Counsel Office, plain
English drafting.22 What we do not have is adequately accessible statute law.23 It
is too easy to overlook statutory provisions.
by legislation”, David M Walker The Oxford Companion to Law (Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1980) 237.
22
The Parliamentary Counsel Office was established by Statutes Drafting and Compilation
Act 1920, s 2. Section 4 set out the duties of the Bill Drafting Department of the Office and
the duties of the Compilation Department of the Office are in s 5.
23
Notwithstanding the broad aims of the Acts and Regulations Publishing Act 1989, the long
title of which states that it is an Act:
(a) To provide for the printing and publication of Acts of Parliament and statutory
regulations; and
(b) To ensure that copies of Acts of Parliament and statutory regulations are
available to the public; and
13
