The use of criminal law sanctions to buttress social norms requiring civility or courtesy in public speech or action is widespread throughout the common law world. However, such sanctions inevitably limit the way in which ...

The issue variously termed “euthanasia”, “assisted suicide” or “aid in dying” repeatedly has been raised in New Zealand. In this article, the author considers the legislative attempts to permit it and the treatment of the ...

In 2016, the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee of Queensland Parliament issued a report on its ‘Inquiry into a possible Human Rights Act for Queensland.’ In the course of deliberations over this document, the ...

This article provides commentary on the issue of prisoner voting, specifically the issue of prohibiting sentenced prisoners from voting. The author considers how the New Zealand Parliament’s decision to remove the right ...

Proposals to include recognition of Australia’s Indigenous peoples in its Constitution, combined with their ongoing severe underrepresentation in Australia’s federal Parliament, have renewed calls for instituting some sort ...

The New Zealand High Court case of Taylor v. Attorney-General resulted in a formal declaration that the law removing the right to vote from all sentenced New Zealand prisoners is inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of ...

In 2014, Darren Watson and Jeremy Jones released a satirical song and video that mocked and criticised New Zealand’s then Prime Minister, John Key. New Zealand’s Electoral Commission promptly warned the country’s television ...

This article considers Lecretia Seales and her New Zealand High Court case to receive aid in dying. The author discusses the main issue in this case, specifically whether directly administering a lethal dose of medication ...

This article is a survey of freedom of expression issues in New Zealand. The author begins by briefly recapping the developments in the common law of defamation and privacy following the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 ...

This article discusses the sensitive topic of whether and when persons suffering as the result of an incurable and/or terminal medical condition ought to be allowed to end their lives with the active assistance of others. ...