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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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Review of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976

Project status: Closed Start date 24 May 2016 Last updated 14 October 2021

This project examined New Zealand’s relationship property legislation.

The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) sets out the rules for how property owned by either or both partners is divided when they separate or when one of them dies...

Declaratory Judgments

Project status: Discontinued Start date 27 July 2016 Last updated 06 April 2021

The declaratory judgment is an important judicial remedy.  It provides an efficient and effective means by which parties can clarify and establish their legal rights and obligations, without the need for further remedies. There is, however,...

Second Review of the Evidence Act 2006

Project status: Closed Start date 20 February 2017 Last updated 03 September 2019

For nearly 30 years the Law Commission has been engaged in reforming the law of evidence in New Zealand. 

In August 1989 the Minister of Justice asked the Commission to review all evidence law to make it as clear, simple and accessible as...

Contempt of Court

Project status: Closed Start date 11 April 2013 Last updated 17 August 2017

The objective of the law of contempt of court is to protect the integrity of the justice system and a defendant’s right to a fair trial. However, the law is vague in scope, uses outdated language and concepts, and is inaccessible to the New...

First Review of the Evidence Act 2006

Project status: Closed Start date 28 February 2012 Last updated 22 February 2017

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...

Burial and Cremation Law

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...

Alternative Models for Prosecuting and Trying Criminal Cases

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...

Judicature Act 1908 and Consolidation of Courts Legislation

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...

Credit (Repossession) Act 1997

Project status: Closed Start date 01 July 2010 Last updated 29 May 2015

The Law Commission has worked closely with the Ministry of Economic Development in a project to rewrite the Credit (Repossession) Act 1997, which has been found to have many practical difficulties with it.

Law of Trusts

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...

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