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...
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
Areas of law
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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...
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,...
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.
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...
This project reviews the rules relating to the parental status of adults with children, including the review of the legal meaning of parent, the purpose of parenthood laws, and the importance of the legal relationship between a parent and child...
This project recommends changes to the framework for the regulation of life insurers and life insurance products in New Zealand.
The purpose of this project is to consider: whether there is a need for clarifying or extending the power of the Family Court to require a person to whom Part I of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 applies to live in...
This project considers what changes, if any, are necessary and desirable in the administration, management and procedure of the Family Court in order to facilitate the early resolution of disputes. The Commission was requested to consider:...
This project discusses nine current trust law problems and makes recommendations thereon. One proposal is to authorise trustees to delegate to agents their powers to administer the trust, including powers of investment and management, but...