The ability of citizens to bring civil legal proceedings against the Crown and its servants is an important part of New Zealand’s constitution, and is protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Crown Proceedings Act 1950 is the...
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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The Commission has undertaken a review of the current regulatory environment for the news media with respect to its adequacy in catering for new and emerging forms of news media – sometimes referred to as the “new media”.
The 3 questions...
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...
The Incorporated Societies Act 1908 is uncomfortably old and has been little amended since its enactment. Yet the range of community organisations that use this legal form is extensive in New Zealand. The focus of this review was on modernising...
In 2011, the Law Commission was asked to review the use of pecuniary penalties as a regulatory tool. These are financial penalties that policymakers are increasingly opting to use in place of criminal sanctions, to punish and deter misconduct in...
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...
The focus of this review is on the criteria and process for the registration and deregistration of private schools under section 35A of the Education Act 1989; the role of ERO in assessing and reviewing schools against those criteria; legislative...
The Law Commission, in conjunction with Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), reviewed the Land Transfer Act 1952 and amendment Acts. An Issues Paper (IP10) was published in October 2008. The aim of the review was to modernise and streamline the...
Part 8 of the Crimes Act 1961 deals with crimes against the person. The project reviewed the adequacy and coherence of the current offence provisions, considered whether there were any gaps in them and revised maximum penalty levels. The project...
Advice provided by the Law Commission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee on Sue Bradford's Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill.