Skip to main content
  • Follow us
  • Like us
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Text Size: A A A A
Home
  • Contact us
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Our people
    • Our Vision and Values
    • Tāwhaki and Te Aka Matua
    • Anniversary Symposium
    • How projects are conducted
    • Māori Liaison Committee
    • Vacancies
    • Corporate information
      • Annual Reports
      • Statements of Intent & Statements of Performance Expectations
      • Briefing for the Incoming Minister
      • Chief Executive Expenses
      • Commissioners' Conflict of Interest Declaration
  • Our role in law reform
  • Our projects
  • Our publications
  • Have your say
  • News & media
    • Te Aka Kōrero
  1. Home
  2. Awaiting Government Response
  3. Work on hold
  4. Courts and Dispute Resolution
  5. Reviewing submissions
  6. Public
  7. Closed
  8. Property/Trusts
  9. Commercial
  10. Our projects

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.

Date range

Project status

  • (-) Remove Awaiting Government Response filter Awaiting Government Response
  • (-) Remove Reviewing submissions filter Reviewing submissions
  • (-) Remove Work on hold filter Work on hold
  • Discontinued (1) Apply Discontinued filter
  • Open (2) Apply Open filter
  • (-) Remove Closed filter Closed

Areas of law

  • (-) Remove Public filter Public
  • (-) Remove Courts and Dispute Resolution filter Courts and Dispute Resolution
  • (-) Remove Commercial filter Commercial
  • (-) Remove Property/Trusts filter Property/Trusts
  • Criminal (37) Apply Criminal filter
  • Civil (32) Apply Civil filter
  • Other (30) Apply Other filter
  • Human Rights (24) Apply Human Rights filter
  • Family (22) Apply Family filter
  • Social (21) Apply Social filter
  • Evidence (14) Apply Evidence filter
  • Customary and Treaty Settlements Law (10) Apply Customary and Treaty Settlements Law filter
  • International Law (7) Apply International Law filter
  • Consumer (5) Apply Consumer filter
  • Sort by latest activity
  • Sort by date

Ko ngā Hunga Take Whaipānga me ngā Pūtea Tautiringa | Class Actions and Litigation Funding

Project status: Closed Start date 01 July 2019 Last updated 27 March 2023

A class action is a court proceeding in which a group with similar interests collectively sues one or more defendants. The court proceeding is brought by a representative plaintiff on behalf of the class. We do not currently have class actions in...

Search & Surveillance Act 2012

Project status: Closed Start date 28 June 2016 Last updated 08 March 2023

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...

Protection of Classified and Security Sensitive Information

Project status: Closed Start date 01 December 2014 Last updated 22 February 2023

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...

Review of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976

Project status: Closed Start date 24 May 2016 Last updated 22 February 2023

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...

Emergency powers for pandemics and other threats

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...

Review of Succession Law

Project status: Closed Start date 18 December 2019 Last updated 27 June 2022

The Law Commission will review the law of succession. The law of succession is the system of rules that governs who gets a person’s property when they die.

In July 2019 the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission requested that the...

Review of the Law of Privacy

Project status: Closed Start date 12 October 2006 Last updated 20 September 2021

This project involves four stages, with publications at each stage.

Stage 1: Policy Overview was a high-level analysis to assess privacy values, changes in technology, international trends, and their implications for New Zealand law.  It...

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...

  • View more
  • Follow us
  • Like us
  • Subscribe
  • About us
  • Our role in law reform
  • Our projects
  • Our publications
  • Have your say
  • News & media
  • Contact us
Creative Commons License

Copyright © 2023 New Zealand Law Commission. Read our disclaimer and privacy policy. Copyright content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Click here for more information.