Te Aka Kōrero | Newsletter

In this first edition of Te Aka Kōrero in 2026, we are delighted to welcome Mark Hickford as a new Commissioner to Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission.

As usual, we also provide updates about our recent work and what’s been happening with our law reform projects.

Nau mai, haere mai ki Te Aka Matua o te Ture, Mark Hickford!

Welcome to the Commission, Mark Hickford!

Dr Mark Hickford has been appointed as a Commissioner for a five-year term. His term commenced in November 2025. Mark will also serve as President of the Commission until Hon Judith Collins KC assumes the role of President later this year.

Mark has extensive experience across the public, academic and private legal sectors and has specialised in iwi–Māori state relations, land and water rights, natural resources and justice sector legal as well as policy issues. He has held various leadership roles, including as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Law and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Government, Law and Business at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (2015-2023).

Mark earned his DPhil from the University of Oxford (examining indigenous property rights and questions of empire) and his LLB (Hons) and BA in Political Studies and History from Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland.

At the Commission, Mark is the Lead Commissioner for the review of the law relating to hate crime.

Final Report published: He Arotake i te Ture mō ngā Huarahi Whakatau a ngā Pakeke | Review of Adult Decision-Making Capacity Law

Today, the Minister responsible for the Law Commission, Hon Paul Goldsmith, presented the Law Commission’s Report He Arotake i te Ture mō ngā Huarahi Whakatau a ngā Pakeke | Review of Adult Decision-making Capacity Law (NZLC R151, 2026) to Parliament.

The Report concludes our review of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. This Act enables the Family Court, court-appointed representatives and attorneys under enduring powers of attorney to make decisions for people who lack the necessary decision-making capacity.

The Law Commission thanks all individuals and organisations who contributed to this review, particularly those whose views reflected their lived experience. Your contributions were invaluable.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

Key recommendations

We make 175 reform recommendations to the Government. Some key ones are:

• A new Act — The Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 should be repealed and replaced with a new Act.
• Formal supporters — A new Act should provide for a new role of formal supporter — someone to assist a person to make decisions, with power to access relevant information but no power to make decisions for the person.
• Decisions made on behalf of another person — Decisions sometimes need to be made on behalf of a person who lacks relevant decision-making capacity in order to uphold their equality, dignity and autonomy. A new Act should continue to provide for making such decisions. However, these arrangements should be significantly reformed.
• New decision-making rules centred on the person’s wishes and values — A decision made on behalf of a person should reflect their expressed wishes and their reasonably enduring values, aspirations, likes and dislikes, departing from them only to avoid a material risk of significant harm to the person.
• Embedding decision-making support — A decision should not be made on behalf of a person if, with available decision-making support, they have decision-making capacity for it. When a decision is made for a person, the decision-maker should take steps to ensure the person has access to decision-making support to express their wishes for the decision and participate in it.
• Enhanced oversight functions — We recommend enhanced safeguards against abuse by attorneys, court-appointed representatives and formal supporters, including a complaints mechanism and consolidated oversight functions.

What’s next?

The Government will consider our recommendations and decide whether to implement them. Usually, the Government presents a formal response to a report, although it may not if it accepts our recommendations.

We will publish an overview of key features of our recommendations in accessible formats on our website when they are available.

Law reform matters — our impact in 2025

We make our recommendations for law reform to the Government, but they also inform public debate about the law. Politicians, public sector agencies, the courts, academics and the media often rely on our in-depth examination of the law’s impact on people and society.

In 2025, our work was mentioned in 100 senior court judgments, 25 articles in New Zealand legal journals and over 250 times in the media. Since 2012, the senior courts have cited 182 different Law Commission publications in over 1,000 judgments.

Our recent report Here ora: Preventive measures in a reformed law (NZLC R149, 2025), published in April 2025, has already been cited in five senior court decisions.

Submission to the Justice Select Committee

On 12 February, Commissioner Claudia Geiringer and Senior Legal and Policy Adviser Thomas Buocz submitted at a Justice Select Committee hearing about post-sentence orders.

The Committee is considering the declarations of inconsistency issued by the Supreme Court in relation to public protection orders and extended supervision orders in Attorney-General v Chisnall [2025] NZSC 126. Public protection orders and extended supervision orders are measures to protect the community from people who pose risks of serious sexual and violent reoffending. The Supreme Court found that substantial parts of these regimes are in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

We submitted to the Committee that implementing our recommendations made in Here ora: Preventive measures in a reformed law (NZLC R149, 2025) would result in a regime that is both rights-compliant and better achieves community safety.

Hara ngākau kino | Hate Crime

The team met with experts, judiciary, law societies and others to gather feedback on draft proposals for reform over the past several months. We are currently drafting our Final Report containing our recommendations for reform, which is due to be delivered mid-year.

Haemata Haepapa | Directors’ duties and liabilities

We formally launched this review with the publication of the terms of reference in August 2025. Currently, we are researching the law and identifying issues that may require reform. We intend to publish an Issues Paper in 2026 with the opportunity to provide feedback to help develop our recommendations for reform.

Review of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003

We are currently undertaking preparatory research and engagement to scope this project. Once the scoping phase is completed, we will publish the terms of reference on our website.

Hapori whānui me te tangata mōrea nui: He arotake o te mauhere ārai hē me ngā ōta nō muri whakawhiu | Public safety and serious offenders: A review of preventive detention and post-sentence orders

In September last year, the Government presented its formal response to our report Here ora: Preventive measures in a reformed law (NZLC R149, 2025) to Parliament. In it, the Government:

• acknowledged the Commission’s findings that the current law is “likely to benefit from the coherence a single legislative framework could provide”;
• stated that it considers further policy work is required to analyse the report’s recommendations “to ensure that any legislative change is well-informed and effectively supports public safety”; and
• stated that this work will need to be balanced alongside other competing government priorities.

Ia Tangata | A review of the protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people with innate variations of sex characteristics 

On 23 February 2026, the Government presented to Parliament its formal response to our report Ia Tangata: Protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people with innate variations of sex characteristics (NZLC R150, 2025). In its response, the Government: 

• recognised the significant role that the Human Rights Act 1993 plays in ensuring that New Zealanders can live free from discrimination;  

• thanked the Commission for its thorough work in reviewing protections in the Act for people who are transgender or non-binary or who have an innate variation of sex characteristics; 

• acknowledged the Commission’s findings and recommendations; and  stated that, as the Government currently has significant commitments and priorities in the justice portfolio, progressing the Commission’s recommendations is not a priority at this time.