News

Plans to cut £220m more from the legal aid budget are regrettable, will "drive out the best lawyers", and may not produce significant savings, one of the UK's most senior judges has warned. In his most explicit challenge yet to government reforms, Lord Neuberger, president of the...

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In a decision that has confused the biotech industry, the US Supreme Court decided last week that naturally occurring human gene sequences are no longer patentable. In doing so, the court has put patent law in the US out on a limb – at odds with laws that apply in many other parts of the...

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Alcohol management plans do not breach racial discrimination laws because they are "special measures" designed to protect vulnerable Indigenous communities, Australia's high court has ruled. In a ruling handed down in Canberra on Wednesday, the court rejects arguments that the...

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To most people CRM stands for ‘client relationship marketing’ and is a vitally important topic I have written about on a number of times. There is another lesser-known CRM, which stands for ‘cause-related marketing’, which is about connecting one organisation with a...

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Fiji’s attorney general has demanded jail for the Methodist minister found in contempt of court for quoting a Law Society Charity report whose contents were first revealed in the Gazette. Judge William Calanchini, presiding, previously said the report’s contents included...

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Assurances by the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice that the Environment Court will not be closed have been welcomed by the New Zealand Law Society. “We appreciate the definitive assurances which both Prime Minister John Key and Justice Minister Judith Collins have given,”...

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More than 4000 extra people have signed up overnight to join a legal bid to sue the banks over penalty fees after ANZ was named yesterday as the first target. Ben Hardwick from Australian law firm Slater & Gordon - one of the legal parties behind Fair Play on Fees - said the number of new...

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Shareholders' Association founder Bruce Sheppard plans to call 25 witnesses defending the defamation case brought against him by Hanover Finance's Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson, the High Court heard today. Hotchin and Watson are suing and seeking $7 million plus costs from Sheppard over what a...

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Gambling trusts will have to return more pokie machine proceeds to the community under law changes announced by Government today. Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain said that the gambling reforms would make the non-casino gaming sector more transparent, save industry from compliance...

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Justice Minister Judith Collins says local communities now have a greater say in the availability of alcohol in their neighbourhoods. Giving communities greater scope to object to liquor licence applications is the first step in the implementation of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012....

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Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain today announced the reappointment of Judge Carolyn Henwood as the Chair of the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service. The Service is a time-limited body established to provide assistance to people who allege abuse or neglect or have concerns...

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Justice Forrest Miller has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, Attorney General Christopher Finlayson announced today. Justice Miller graduated LLB (Hons) from Otago University in 1981 and LLM from the University of Toronto in 1997. Initially he worked for the Alexandra firm...

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Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says collaboration with Te Ururoa Flavell on his Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill is the first stage in a balanced series of reforms planned for the Class 4 (non-casino) gaming sector. “The Select Committee report on the Bill was...

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The Constitutional Advisory Panel has extended the deadline to the end of July for people to make submissions on a constitutional review. Co-chair Sir Tipene O'Regan said the additional month will give people time to consider the issues and organisations more time to consult their members....

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The Prime Minister says there are no plans to close the Environment Court. Mr Key has rebutted speculation the court will be canned saying yesterday he believed it would remain a stand alone court. "There's been talk about desire to get rid of the Environment Court. There isn't. What...

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I have noticed that Aucklanders and Auckland businesses tend, when an issue goes against them, to call their favourite Queen's Counsel and sue. In public law, this is often the only recourse if you have not engaged early with the Government or Auckland Council to get the right policy or...

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Preliminary results posted today by three top-50 firms show profits falling in 2012-13 on modest rises in turnover. At Osborne Clarke, European mergers boosted turnover by 14% to £112m, according to its provisional results posted today. However like-for-like revenue was down from £98m in...

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A disgruntled litigant has been sentenced to 28 years in jail for the murder of Wiltshire solicitor Jim Ward.Michael Chudley, 63, shot Ward with a sawn-off shotgun on 2 July last year at the MGW Law building in Devizes. Ward (pictured), 58, had represented a client who was involved in a...

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A recent High Court judgment concerning the Scrabble ‘tile’ trademark highlights the tension between trademarks and the functional elements of toys and games. Below is part two of a two-part summary of a few key decisions in this area; claims with varying degrees of success. Part one...

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Any review process and reform of Maori land tenure needs to be done very carefully and limiting the focus to legislative intervention is of concern, the New Zealand Law Society says. The Law Society has released its comments on the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 Review Panel's Discussion...

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Former Dominion Finance directors Robert Barry Whale and Ann Butler were both sentenced to terms of home detention in the High Court in Auckland today after earlier pleading guilty to charges of misleading investors. Justice Robert Dobson sentenced Whale to 12 months home detention, 250 hours...

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I have noticed that Aucklanders and Auckland businesses tend, when an issue goes against them, to call their favourite Queen's Counsel and sue. In public law, this is often the only recourse if you have not engaged early with the Government or Auckland Council to get the right policy or...

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The Government plans to overhaul laws governing money laundering, identity fraud and international trafficking. Justice Minister Judith Collins said today that new legislation to attack organised crime would be introduced to Parliament later this year. The Government would redraft money...

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Inland Revenue is getting ready to clamp down on thousands of New Zealand residents who haven't been paying tax on withdrawals from their overseas superannuation schemes. The Taxation (Annual Rates, Foreign Superannuation, and Remedial Matters) Bill which sets out new tax rules on overseas...

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Courts Minister Chester Borrows officially reopened the Masterton courthouse today following a $3.5 million refurbishment and strengthening project. “I want to acknowledge the support from our staff, the judiciary, local government, lawyers, Police and Corrections staff and other court...

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Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson have reached agreement with Christchurch City Council for a team of technical experts from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to join the council’s...

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The powers that allow Britain’s intelligence agencies to spy on individuals, including foreign diplomats, were set out in the 1994 Intelligence Services Act (ISA). They were framed in a broad way to allow those involved in espionage to conduct all manner of operations with ministerial...

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The High Court has approved a settlement under which Air New Zealand will pay a $7.5 million penalty for price-fixing in breach of the Commerce Act. The company is the last airline to settle with the Commerce Commission in its long-running air cargo cartel case. Today's penalty judgment brings...

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The Immigration Amendment Bill passed its third reading today, meaning New Zealand will now have the legislation needed to effectively manage a mass arrival of asylum seekers, says Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse. “This legislation is about ensuring our system can handle a mass...

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The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and INSOL New Zealand (INSOL) are asking members for feedback on a joint proposal to enhance the regulation of insolvency specialists. The two organisations consider that the Government’s Insolvency Practitioners Bill as drafted...

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Despite headlines about cyberattacks appearing almost daily in the news, some law firms still do not realize how vulnerable they are to such dangers. At a legal technology trade show earlier this year, FBI special agent Mary Galligan, who is in charge of cyber and special operations, warned...

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Vulnerable victims will be allowed to have their evidence and cross-examinations pre-recorded for court under a pilot scheme being launched by Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, on Tuesday. Rather than having to delay recalling horrific experiences until a trial takes place, thereby...

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Jailed National Finance director Trevor Ludlow will remain behind bars after the Court of Appeal rejected his appeal against his sentence. Ludlow was convicted in 2011 of seven charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office, including six charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and...

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Privacy advocates are pushing the US Congress to rein in the US National Security Agency's efforts to collect massive amounts of data from US residents, as alleged in recent news reports. More than 80 organisations have signed a letter calling on Congress to take "take immediate action...

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Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the time has come for the Government to take urgent action to address the Christchurch City Council’s repeated inability to meet statutory timeframes for processing building consents. This follows a letter dated 30 May from...

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Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says feedback from event organisers and members of the public shows overwhelming support for changes to the rules around spot prize draws which will remove unnecessary red tape. Currently when spot prizes are used at events, such as fishing competitions...

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Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye has today announced changes to the Food Bill that ensure communities will be able to continue fundraising that involves the sale of food. “The changes ensure better balance in the legislation so that high-risk food operators have the appropriate controls,...

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The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Obama administration Tuesday charging that its collection of vast domestic phone records violates Americans' constitutional rights of free speech and privacy. The lawsuit could set up an eventual Supreme Court test, The New York Times reports. The...

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Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Courts Minister Chester Borrows have announced that safety and security is being enhanced with the expansion of audio-visual links (AVL) to a further 14 District Courts and nine prisons, allowing more prisoners to make court appearances while physically...

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The Christchurch City Council has been given until June 28 to improve its consenting process or it will lose the power to grant consents. Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said in a statement today that the Christchurch City Council was sent a letter from International...

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The fiancee of former rich-list property developer Jamie Peters was given $62,000 to pay the costs and expenses of a round-the-world trip the pair took just seven months after Peters was declared bankrupt. Peters is undergoing a "public examination" hearing in the High Court at...

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Will Yasmin Prest "pierce the corporate veil" and get the £17.5m divorce settlement her former husband has been ordered to pay her? That's the intriguing question the supreme court will answer on Wednesday. The issue has split the court of appeal, exposing a profound philosophical...

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It is an exciting time to be an English lawyer – especially one prepared to look beyond England. The more economically globalised the world becomes, the more it needs globalised legal services, which means more career opportunities for law graduates willing to work in other countries and...

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Junior barristers will be paid as little as £14 a day – well below the minimum wage – under the government’s proposed criminal legal aid cuts, the House of Commons justice committee heard today. The cross-party committee was taking evidence from bodies representing the legal...

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The Auckland Council will today ask the Government to scrap provisions in new legislation allowing Wellington to take control of housing developments in Auckland. The Government says it will take control of housing planning and the consent process from councils if they do not act quickly...

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The senior lawyer appointed by the Prime Minister to investigate the GCSB wrote a report which was more detailed and highly classified than the one released. The existence of the highly classified version of the report was revealed by Air Marshal Sir Bruce Ferguson, who was a former director...

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The New Zealand Law Society says it supports imposition of a Practice Direction for Mediations and Other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the Environment Court. In its comments on the Consultation Draft: Practice Direction: Mediations and Other ADR in the Environment Court, the Law...

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The Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill is useful in that it confirms the law relating to acceptance of contract offers sent by electronic communications, the New Zealand Law Society says. In a submission on the bill, the Law Society says the bill confirms what most...

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The Government has introduced a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) to the Legal Assistance Amendment Bill during the Committee of the Whole House stage debate on the Bill at Parliament today. Justice Minister Judith Collins says the Supplementary Order Paper makes minor but necessary changes to...

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Wellington barrister Brendan Brown QC has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson announced today. Justice Brown graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the University of Canterbury in 1976. After employment as a law clerk at Brockett Cameron & Co in...

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