Work has not yet begun on this project.
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission has been asked to undertake a review of legal responses to hate. The Commission has been asked to consider how the law should respond to hate-...
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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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 (...
Project status: Closed
Start date 12 October 2021
Last updated 19 October 2023
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...
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.
...
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 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 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...
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 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...