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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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Ia Tangata | A Review of the Protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people with innate variations of sex characteristics

Project status: Researching issues Start date 16 January 2023 Last updated 02 August 2023

In this project, Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission will examine the protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people with innate variations of sex characteristics.

The...

Hapori whānui me te tangata mōrea nui: he arotake o te mauhere ārai hē me ngā ōta nō muri whakawhiu | Public safety and serious offenders: a review of preventive detention and post-sentence orders

Project status: Reviewing submissions Start date 01 July 2022 Last updated 07 August 2023

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 (...

He Arotake i te Ture mō ngā Huarahi Whakatau a ngā Pakeke | Review of Adult Decision-Making Capacity Law

Project status: Researching issues Start date 06 October 2021 Last updated 01 September 2023

Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is reviewing how the law should respond when an adult’s decision-making is affected.

 

...

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...

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...

Alternative approaches to abortion law

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...

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...

The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations

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...

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...

Creation of a separate crime of non-fatal strangulation

Project status: Closed Start date 15 July 2015 Last updated 12 October 2016

An element of the revised Law Commission work programme 2014/15 issued by the Minister of Justice included creation of a separate crime of non-fatal strangulation.

In its fourth Annual Report the Family Violence Death Review Committee...

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