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...
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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Areas of law
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Project status: Closed
Start date 09 April 2021
Last updated 11 November 2022
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 November 2013
Last updated 28 September 2016
This review covers the Extradition Act 1999 and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1992. These Acts provide a framework for formal assistance between New Zealand and foreign governments in the investigation and prosecution of crime. They...
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...
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...