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The New Zealand Law Society expressed its concern on a number of occasions in 2011 to parliamentary select committees and the Attorney-General about potential infringements of the rule of law, New Zealand Bill of Rights Act or human rights. The Law Society’s Law Reform Committee has...

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The Ministry of Justice has released a document which outlines the Stage One changes under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 and relevant amendment acts. The Stage One changes have effect from 5 March 2011. The Criminal Procedure Act 2011 represents the most significant reform of criminal...

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IPONZ is rolling out its new case management system for trade marks and designs in February 2012. The new system makes it easy to search, apply for, and maintain a law firm’s IP and proceedings cases in a single place, through a simple user interface. From 24 January 2012 IPONZ is...

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Almost 150,000 people sign online petition which calls for tech giant to clean up its act on alleged human rights abuses in China Mark Shields, a communications worker in Washington DC, did not intend to become an activist calling for Apple to clean up its act over allegations of brutal labour...

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Lawyers for six passengers file lawsuit in Florida against Costa Cruises, saying firm's €11,000 compensation offer is 'insulting' An American legal team working with lawyers from around the world has announced details of a $460m (£290m) civil suit filed in Florida seeking damages for...

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Christmas hamper company Chrisco Hampers Limited was fined $175,000 in the Manukau District Court today after pleading guilty to breaching the Fair Trading Act by misleading customers about their cancellation rights under the Layby Sales Act. Chrisco is a well-known company that supplies...

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The process for approving investment in the national grid took an important step forward today with the release of the Commerce Commission’s final determination of Transpower’s Capital Expenditure Input Methodology. The Commerce Commission took over responsibility for approving...

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Christmas hamper company Chrisco Hampers Ltd was fined $175,000 in the Manukau District Court today after pleading guilty to breaching the Fair Trading Act by misleading customers about their cancellation rights under the Layby Sales Act, the Commerce Commission said. Chrisco supplies food...

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Waihi police have described the theft of food prepared for a funeral as a "new low in criminal offending". Waihi sub-area supervisor Senior Sergeant Rex Knight, said officers were "genuinely shocked" to receive a complaint that the town's War Memorial Hall had been broken...

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European regulators have opened an antitrust probe against Samsung Electronics to determine whether the South Korean group has distorted competition in European mobile device markets. The European Commission said it will investigate whether the group went too far last year when it sought...

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The rage against America's SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) may have only just subsided, but indications are that yet another copyright dust up is about to take place here as the Office of the United States Trade Representative negotiates a trade agreement with New Zealand. Called the...

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The directors of Lombard Finance & Investments acted with honesty and integrity, using the best information they had available to them, according to the defence counsel. Counsel for Doug Graham and Lawrence Bryant, Paul Davison QC, told the High Court in Wellington his clients acted...

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Auckland litigator Murray Ashley Gilbert SC has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson announced today. Justice Gilbert graduated with an LLB from Auckland University in 1977. In 1976 he joined Kensington Swan in Auckland as a law clerk, later becoming...

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The New Zealand Law Society has released a discussion paper on a proposed mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme for all New Zealand lawyers. Lawyers are being invited to comment on the proposed scheme by 13 April 2012. The discussion paper is available, and comments may be...

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Nearly 2000 primary school children were sent home last year following serious disciplinary matters - including 75 whose behaviour was so bad they were told not to bother returning. In many cases the disciplinary action was a last resort by desperate principals - not designed to teach the...

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The SPCA has been awarded $5000, and is likely to receive more, following sentencing of Grant Michael Teahan, the Dannevirke farmer convicted of trapping and painting harrier hawks. In December, Teahan was found guilty in the Dannevirke District Court on two charges of ill-treating native...

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A nurse who sent sexually explicit text messages to a mental health patient in his care has been suspended from practice. Collin Kora was accused of propositioning a colleague, sending explicit text messages to an "acutely unwell" patient and inappropriately phoning another patient...

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Owners of baches built on public land will have to open up their homes for other holidaymakers and allow their gardens to be used as campgrounds under new Department of Conservation rules. A total of 95 private baches on the West Coast, including in Haast and Kwitcha Town, used largely as...

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Courts Minister Chester Borrows congratulated Ministry of Justice staff today, following the successful launch of a regional way of working across district courts in New Zealand’s most populous region. From today, services offered at each of the six district courts in the region –...

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Lawyers for former Pike River Coal head Peter Whittall are considering applying to have some of the charges against him dropped because of the timeframe in which they were laid. Whittall is one of three parties facing Department of Labour charges relating to the deaths of 29 men in the Pike...

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Maori political leaders are urging iwi to object strongly to suggestions the Government will not include protection of Treaty of Waitangi rights in planned legislation on partial state asset sales. Next week, the Government will begin a series of hui about the law changes needed to sell...

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Case of Julian Assange likely to provide useful insight into impact of televising high-profile court hearings As the only court to broadcast proceedings live on television, the supreme court is anticipating a substantial boost to its global audience when Julian Assange appears this week....

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Search giant's staff criticised by committee for not doing enough to take down images taken from Max Mosley orgy video It was the latest stage in a long-running inquiry into privacy but the appearance of two senior Google executives before a joint parliamentary committee turned into an...

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Alison Saunders of the Crown Prosecution Service talks about the Lawrence case and why a debate on rape is needed Alison Saunders is probably the UK's most experienced criminal prosecutor. She has overseen the convictions of serial rapists and serial murderers – and, in one particularly...

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Alison Saunders says jurors arrive at court with preconceptions about women which affects how they consider evidence The demonisation of young women is contributing to the failure to secure more convictions of suspected rapists, one of the country's leading prosecutors warns on Monday. Some...

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Protest march in support of human rights advocate Baltasar Garzón, who is also on trial over Franco-era prosecutions He has put dictators, torturers, terrorists and drug barons in the dock. Now, he himself faces an extraordinary battery of criminal charges. The already astonishing drama...

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The financial performance of handset, tablet and set-top box maker Motorola suggests that it won't add $12bn (including $3bn of cash) in value to Google's business. But how can Google possibly earn its money back from patents? Google intends to buy Motorola Mobility (MMI) for $12.5bn. Is it a...

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When the UN convenes a discussion on the rule of law, they would should restate some common sense principles This September the United Nations secretary general will convene what is called, in UN parlance, a "high level segment" of the general assembly to discuss "the rule of...

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A council planner was dumped from a hotly debated heritage case after refusing to sign his name to approve demolition of a 130-year-old cottage in Freemans Bay, new evidence shows. The latest twist in the heritage controversy follows the revelation that the resource consent application to...

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Judge suggests there is a distinction between social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and news organisations Lord Justice Leveson has indicated that he believes social networks such as Twitter and Facebook should be treated differently from newspapers in any new regulatory regime for the...

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New front in legal battles would require written permission from search giant, as patent battles continue to ramp up over Android Google specifically gave permission for Motorola Mobility (MMI) to file a new lawsuit against Apple over its iPhone 4S and iCloud products, according to an analysis...

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Ex-Guatemalan dictator Ríos Montt faces genocide charges as presidents in El Salvador and Colombia apologise for massacres Latin America is confronting past civil wars and dictatorships this week with a series of prosecutions and apologies that are shining a light on decades-old atrocities....

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The European sovereign debt crisis and Canterbury earthquakes were two bad jolts to the New Zealand economy in 2011, but the economy and financial system have the capacity to weather such shocks, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said today. In a speech to the Canterbury Employers’...

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The Environmental Protection Authority is reminding a number of new sectors that they need to register as participants of the Emissions Trading Scheme by the end of this month. Under the Climate Change Response Act, sectors joining the scheme this year must register by 31 January 2012. These...

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An Oklahoma lawmaker has proposed legislation to ban any use of foetuses in food in one of the more bizarre twists in the emotive US battle over abortion. The bill comes after wild rumors began circulating online and among anti-abortion groups that soft drink giant, Pepsi, was using aborted...

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The Financial Markets Authority is giving all issuers of investments to the public until January 1 next year to get all their prospectuses and investment statements comply with the new financial markets conduct law. The financial markets watchdog has also issued guidelines for issuers to help...

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A Crown witness in the trial of three Bridgecorp bosses is sticking to her guns and maintains she talked to former director Rod Petricevic about the failed finance company missing payments to investors. Petricevic and fellow directors Rob Roest and Peter Steigrad are accused of making untrue...

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Sir Michael Fay has long-played by the Golden Rule ("He who owns the Gold rules!"). But Fay's move to file High Court proceedings before two Cabinet Ministers have even given their decision on the Pengxin bid for the Crafar dairy farms is quite extraordinary. Neither Maurice...

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Prime Minister John Key says the Government did not have any valid reasons to refuse approval for the Chinese bid from Shanghai Pengxin to buy the 16 Crafar farms - and blocking it may have broken the law. The ministers responsible for overseeing Overseas Investment Office decisions - Maurice...

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The liquidator for failed lender Five Star Finance has lost its bid to void a series of transactions worth some $929,000. In the High Court at Auckland, Associate Judge Roger Bell turned down an application by liquidators Gerald Rea and Paul Sargison of Gerry Rea Partners to void payments by...

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The Serious Fraud Office has laid a total of 92 criminal charges against the three directors of failed Gisborne finance company Rockforte Finance, which collapsed with deposits guaranteed by the Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme and whose receivership is likely to cost the taxpayer the thick...

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The Financial Markets Authority today published draft guidance for securities issuers, directors and their advisers on how to prepare and present effective prospectuses and investment statements. CEO Sean Hughes said FMA welcomed comments and suggestions from interested parties before the...

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Bold plans to extend Auckland's port 250m into the Waitemata Harbour are going through the Auckland Council for formal approval without a full public debate. Ports of Auckland is asking councillors to "lock in place" a coastal zone allowing it to expand its waterfront operations from...

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Former National Finance boss Trevor Allan Ludlow has had nine months added to his prison sentence for misleading investors and making false financial statements. Ludlow's prison sentence was extended in the High Court at Auckland this morning after he pleaded guilty in December to eight...

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A new approach to describing how amendments are made in legislation New ways to describe amendments have been approved for use in legislation that sets out amendments to be made to other legislation. The changes will make amendments easier to follow, and more efficient to draft and to apply....

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Auckland Council will seek a new court order to remove the remaining few Occupy Auckland protesters camping out in Aotea Square. The occupiers have been in the square for more than 100 days and the council went to court last month to win the legal right to evict the remaining protesters and...

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A law amendment will make it easier for police to lock up online sexual predators. From March, police can pretend to be a person under the age of 16 in order to arrest older people grooming them. Previously, if a police officer was impersonating an underage child it might not have been an...

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University lecturer Theodora Dallas jailed for six months for researching criminal defendant while serving on jury A former university lecturer who carried out online research about a criminal defendant while serving as a juror has been jailed for six months. Theodora Dallas, 34, who taught...

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Guidance from the director of public prosecutions on thorny issue of 'joint enterprise' is long overdue Two weeks after the conviction of the killers of Stephen Lawrence, today's report on joint enterprise by the commons justice select committee could not be more timely. Central to the...

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The Commerce Commission has published a statement of preliminary issues relating to an application from IAG seeking clearance to acquire AMI Insurance. Both IAG and AMI supply general insurance including house, contents, and motor vehicles. The statement of preliminary issues outlines the key...

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