The Law Commission's projects are often in the media. We highlight them below in 'Law Commission in the news'. In 'our latest news', you will find a mix of project updates, publication announcements, and other general Commission news. We also keep catalogues of past media releases, videos and speeches as reference material for our projects.
Law Commission in the news
Our latest news
The Succession team is currently researching and conducting preliminary engagement on issues with practitioners and experts.
Under the Family Protection Act 1955, all children are entitled to make a claim for provision from the estate if they believe they have not been properly recognised by their deceased parent. The acceptability of adult children pursuing such claims to inherit from their parents is the subject of enduring debate. Over the past decade, at least 93 claims of this type have been lodged.
The Class Actions & Litigation Funding team is currently preparing a consultation document looking at issues raised by these two interesting aspects of civil litigation.
The DNA team is currently drafting a report for presentation to the Minister of Justice this year.
Here’s a quick quiz. If Police take a sample of your DNA, analyse it, and create a profile of you – when should they destroy that information?
The Minister Responsible for te Aka Matua o te Ture | the Law Commission, Hon Andrew Little, has recently referred a review of surrogacy laws to the Commission as a new project for the 2020/21 year. The review of surrogacy laws will commence following completion of the review of the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act 1995 (the DNA project). The Commission will also begin a review of the laws relating to adults with impaired decision-making capacity following completion of the DNA project.
Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa and Te Aka Matua o Te Ture | the Law Commission have developed a good relationship over recent years, and on 21 July 2020 signed a Memorandum of Understanding which sets out a framework for closer engagement. This includes the Commission providing regular updates and receiving advice on consultation with Māori with respect to its current and planned work programme, and Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa encouraging its members to make submissions on issues that are relevant to Māori.