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...
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 12 October 2021
Last updated 02 June 2022
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 18 December 2019
Last updated 15 December 2021
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: Researching issues
Start date 06 October 2021
Last updated 06 October 2021
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission (the Commission) will undertake a review of the law relating to adult decision-making capacity.
...
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 01 July 2010
Last updated 28 September 2016
On this project, the Law Commission undertook a first principles review of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. The Act’s primary purpose is to ensure provision is made for the burial of the dead in a controlled and respectful manner...
Project status: Closed
Start date 12 July 2013
Last updated 21 July 2015
The Law Commission was asked by the Minister for Courts to undertake a first principles review of the statutory rules governing the media’s reporting of individual suicide deaths. In particular, it was asked to consider whether the current...
Project status: Closed
Start date 01 July 1999
Last updated 11 May 2015
The purpose of this project is to review the legal framework for adoption in New Zealand as set out in the Adoption Act 1955 and the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985, and to recommend whether and how the framework should be modified to better...
Project status: Closed
Start date 10 March 1987
Last updated 11 May 2015
This project examines and reviews that part of the Accident Compensation Act 1982 which recognises and is intended to promote the general principles of community responsibility, comprehensive entitlement, complete rehabilitation, real...
Project status: Closed
Start date 09 November 1998
Last updated 11 May 2015
This project draws together the major themes of reconciling the public interest in effective determination of the cause of death with the particular cultural, religious and personal beliefs of many New Zealanders, and enabling systematic...
Project status: Closed
Start date 02 May 2008
Last updated 11 May 2015
This project involved an examination of the existing mechanisms for compensating victims of crime for harm, loss or damage suffered as the result of that crime. The project considered the adequacy of these mechanisms and made proposals for any...