Section 202(1) of the Evidence Act required the Commission to report to the Minister of Justice on the following matters:
(a) the operation of the provisions of the Act since its commencement;
(b) whether those provisions should be...
Our projects
Each project is an area of law or subject matter that the Law Commission has agreed to review. The Commission works on several projects at a time. Together, these projects make up the Commission's annual work programme.
Use the search filters below to find particular projects. For more information on how we work see how we conduct projects.
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Project status: Closed
Start date 28 February 2012
Last updated 22 February 2017
Project status: Closed
Start date 15 July 2015
Last updated 12 October 2016
An element of the revised Law Commission work programme 2014/15 issued by the Minister of Justice included creation of a separate crime of non-fatal strangulation.
In its fourth Annual Report the Family Violence Death Review Committee...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 July 2010
Last updated 28 September 2016
On this project, the Law Commission undertook a first principles review of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. The Act’s primary purpose is to ensure provision is made for the burial of the dead in a controlled and respectful manner...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 July 2009
Last updated 15 June 2016
This project arose from the Commission’s recommendation in their Report, Disclosure to Court of Defendants’ Previous Convictions, Similar Offending, and Bad Character (R103, 2008). The Commission recommended that Government should...
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 15 July 2015
Last updated 12 May 2016
In 2001 the Law Commission published a report examining the legal defences available to protect those who commit criminal offences as a reaction to domestic violence: “Some Criminal defences with Particular Reference to Battered Defendants”...
Project status: Closed
Start date 12 July 2013
Last updated 21 July 2015
The Law Commission was asked by the Minister for Courts to undertake a first principles review of the statutory rules governing the media’s reporting of individual suicide deaths. In particular, it was asked to consider whether the current...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 July 2010
Last updated 29 May 2015
The Judicature Act 1908 is over one hundred years old and has been amended many times. Many of the sections in the Act are outdated, and it contains “hidden” commercial law and judicial review provisions. The focus of the Law Commission’s...
Project status: Closed
Start date 14 March 2009
Last updated 27 May 2015
For this project, the Commission reviews the Trustee Act 1956 and trust law generally. In the first stage of this review, the Report, Review of the Law of Trusts: A Trusts Act for New Zealand (R130) is preceded by six Issues Papers. The...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 April 2007
Last updated 11 May 2015
For this project, the Commission reviews existing rules of evidence around admissibility of previous convictions, similar offending and bad character. In particular, the extent to which the court is made aware of prior convictions of an accused,...
Project status: Closed
Start date 13 May 2004
Last updated 11 May 2015
This project reviews existing rules providing access to Court records and developing principles to govern access to Court records, the retention and archiving of records. It considers the appropriateness of a single code providing rules for all...