The current law
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...
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
- Discontinued (1) Apply Discontinued filter
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Areas of law
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Project status: Researching issues
Start date 01 July 2022
Last updated 01 July 2022
Project status: Researching issues
Start date 30 May 2022
Last updated 21 June 2022
The Evidence Act 2006 brings together most of the rules of evidence in a single statute. It was based on the Law Commission’s 1999 report...
Project status: Researching issues
Start date 12 October 2021
Last updated 02 June 2022
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 29 June 2022
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: Open
Start date 09 April 2021
Last updated 08 September 2021
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission has commissioned Professor Janet McLean QC 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...
Project status: Awaiting Government Response
Start date 23 November 2020
Last updated 27 May 2022
The Government has asked Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission to conduct a review of surrogacy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This review is a comprehensive examination of surrogacy law, regulation and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. The...
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 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 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...