Aotearoa New Zealand has laws aimed at protecting the public from reoffending risks posed by some offenders convicted of serious crimes. These laws enable the detention or supervision of those offenders beyond a fixed-term prison sentence (...
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.
Project status
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Project status: Researching issues
Start date 01 July 2022
Last updated 04 July 2022
Project status: Researching issues
Start date 30 May 2022
Last updated 28 September 2022
The Evidence Act 2006 brings together most of the rules of evidence in a single statute. It was based on the Law Commission’s 1999 report and decade-long review of evidence law in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In February 2022, the Minister of...
Project status: Researching issues
Start date 12 October 2021
Last updated 02 June 2022
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission will produce a detailed study paper that examines tikanga Māori and its place in Aotearoa New Zealand’s legal landscape.
Tikanga Māori has been steadily gaining recognition in the courts and in...
Project status: Closed
Start date 09 April 2021
Last updated 11 November 2022
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission commissioned Professor Janet McLean KC to write a Study Paper concerning Aotearoa New Zealand’s legal and institutional framework for pandemics and other threats. Building on the Commission’s Final...
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 23 November 2020
Last updated 15 November 2022
The Government has asked Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission to conduct a review of surrogacy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This review is a comprehensive examination of surrogacy law, regulation and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. The...
Project status: Closed
Start date 27 February 2018
Last updated 30 August 2019
On 27 February 2018 the Minister of Justice wrote to the Law Commission noting the Government was considering how best to ensure New Zealand’s abortion laws are consistent with treating abortion as a health issue.
The Minister asked the...
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...
Project status: Closed
Start date 27 July 2016
Last updated 25 May 2021
The forensic analysis of DNA is a powerful tool in solving crime. However, the use of DNA in criminal investigations also raises important legal and ethical issues.
In New Zealand the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act 1995...
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 28 June 2016
Last updated 15 October 2018
The Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice conducted a review of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, as is required by section 357 of that Act. The review was referred to us by the then Minister of Justice on 28 June 2016 and we jointly...
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 01 December 2014
Last updated 20 October 2021
This project reviews the laws that determine how security sensitive information should be dealt with in court proceedings. The review looks at how to protect information that may prejudice New Zealand’s security. It also considers whether the...