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A list is presented of the law theses and papers deposited in the law library at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand including "Accident or Tragedy?: Compensation for Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injuries Under the ACC Scheme," by Michael Bell, "Pregnancy Following Failed Sterilization Under the Accident Compensations Scheme," by Yasmin Moinfar, and "Community Justice," by Annina Boehm.

Judicial promotion of mediation has been identified as an important way to encourage and increase the amount of commercial mediation in New Zealand. This latest contribution to the New Zealand Commercial Mediation Study (NZCMS) explores the views of District and High Court judges in relation to the use of mediation in their courts. Comparisons are made with earlier NZCMS studies, including the controversial issue of mandatory mediation. While the judiciary is well placed to increase the amount of commercial mediation in New Zealand, this paper concludes that it is unlikely that this potential will be realised under the current civil procedure settings. District and High Court judges possess a good understanding of mediation and its benefits but also prioritise party autonomy in choosing whether to undertake mediation or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Act 2010, which came into effect on 1 October 2010, could be considered the most significant change to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act since its introduction in 1989. The new Act has two main functions: it extends the jurisdiction of the Youth Court and gives the Court a new range of orders. This paper analyses s 14 of the new Act which extends the jurisdiction to 12 and 13 year old serious and recidivist offenders. The paper assesses what problem Parliament was trying to address with this amendment. It argues that the change in jurisdiction could be said to be motivated by populist politics rather than addressing a known change in child offending. The paper then explores how s 14 changes the underlying assumptions about the level of responsibility we attribute to children. It then recommends that serious and recidivist offenders continue to be dealt with by the Family Court. The paper acknowledges, however, that changes could be made to strengthen the Family Court's existing powers to ensure children are dealt with more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

APN New Zealand Limited v Simunovich Fisheries Limited was a significant Supreme Court judgment regarding the biggest defamation claim in New Zealand's legal history. The Court ruled that third party statements were inadmissible as evidence for a defence of truth, unless such statements could be independently proven to be true. This paper argues that objectively reliable third party statements, such as statements made by the judiciary, should be admissible as evidence for a defence of truth in certain cases. Where a defamatory meaning of reasonable grounds to suspect guilt is pleaded, rather than an allegation of actual guilt, reliable statements made by a third party can be highly relevant in proving the existence of reasonable grounds for suspicion. A high burden is already placed on defendants to negotiate technical pleading and evidential requirements in proving the defence of truth. Simunovich erects an unnecessary further obstacle that will prevent the submission of relevant and reliable evidence. This paper recommends that the Simunovich ruling on third party statements be amended to allow such particulars to be admitted in support of a defence of truth to an alleged defamatory meaning of reasonable grounds of suspicion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, ideas about "rights" to Internet access or connectivity have received growing recognition from governments, legal institutions, and other political actors in several countries, including New Zealand. Despite this emerging political and legal recognition, there are few, if any, systematic studies exploring such ideas. This paper aims to change this. First, it offers a theoretical exploration of the idea of a "right" to Internet access, including the different versions of such rights talk. Secondly, it examines whether there is any legal basis for such rights claims in New Zealand and ultimately argues that section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights offers a legal basis for a certain kind of right to Internet connectivity, as well as a legal basis to claim wider access - via the Internet or other mediums - to government information. Some concrete implications, both legal and political, of these findings are also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After introductory comments on how the Judicial Committee functioned as the final court for the British Empire for over a century, this article discusses a range of highly unusual cases from India, Canada and New Zealand. The aim is to give something of the flavour of the Judicial Committee's work and its impact on local courts. The final section of the paper suggests conclusions that can be drawn from that survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legality of ritual slaughter rests upon both law and merits. On the one hand, the international freedom of religion requires that communities can obtain meat of a suitable standard, and on the other, current scientific literature indicates that any distinct risks to animal welfare are manageable. Despite this, ritual slaughter remains controversial, particularly Jewish kosher slaughter (Shechita), for which electrical pre-stunning before throat-cutting - arguably the sine qua non of welfare risk management - is incompatible. Through a mixture of theological, legal, and scientific argument, this paper examines the level of protection Shechita receives as a manifestation of belief, with particular reference to developments in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill is currently before the New Zealand Parliament. The Bill will implement mandatory defence disclosure of the issues in dispute at a pre-trial hearing stage. This paper addresses the enforcement mechanism adopted by the Bill an inference of guilt from nonompliance and examines the suitability of the inference as an enforcement mechanism. It outlines the compatibility of the inference with the existing framework of evidence law in New Zealand and suggests changes to the Bill that are necessary to ensure the inference is exercised in a consistent and justifiable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the way in which the courts have treated cases involving electoral broadcasting in New Zealand. Cases involving electoral broadcasting have been decided on a range of approaches. This article uses an "institutional"conception of elections to determine whether certain bounds can be drawn to define a category of election expression, comprising certain rules and norms, which the courts can use when dealing with expression around elections. New Zealand's case law to date is broadly consistent with an institutional model of electoral expression within which a higher level of judicial scrutiny of broadcasters is exhibited. This paper proposes that an express recognition of this institutional conception would provide some clarity and unity to decisions involving the sensitive issue of electoral broadcasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the range of uses of the phrases tangata whenua and mana whenua in New Zealand Acts, the issues that have arisen as a consequence, and identifies some suggestions for addressing those issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1846, the first breach of promise of marriage case was heard by the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Unlike many other breach of promise cases heard throughout the Empire during the nineteenth century, this case was not publicly reported. Rather, it is a case that exists only within the pages of Justice Chapman's judicial notebook, absent from the newspaper court reports of the lime. This action was relatively rare in the colony but the testimonies of witnesses examined enable us to gain an insight into matters of class, courtship, family, reputation and social protocols in the mid-nineteenth century. This paper considers the legal history of the action in New Zealand from 1842-1875, focussing on the case of Fitzgerald v Clifford (1846) to explore how private matters of courtship and romance became matters of legal and sometimes public debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the approach that is taken in New Zealand in determining coverage for pregnancies following failed sterilisations under the accident compensation scheme. The approach adopted in the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in ACC v D is criticised and an alternative approach for determining whether such claims ought to be within the accident compensation scheme is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 1 July 2001, Portugal decriminalised all drugs, replacing criminal sanctions with administrative ones. Portugal's decriminalisation policy focused on individual possession and use of drugs. It was thought that possession and use would be best dealt with outside of the criminal process. In New Zealand, the Law Commission is revisiting the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. The author seeks to analyse the first two terms of reference: whether the legislative regime should reflect the principle of harm minimisation underpinning the National Drug Policy; and the most suitable model or models for the control of drugs. This paper examines the principles around the criminalisation of possession and use of drugs. In particular, it examines the experience of Portugal, some eight years after decriminalisation. It is argued that New Zealand should adopt a policy of harm minimisation and that the model Portugal presents ought to be seriously considered as a possibility for New Zealand reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]