New Zealand bans conversion therapy and incorporates rights-based mechanism
Image description: rainbow queer pride flag Conversion therapy Conversion therapy involves psychological, spiritual, and physical practices to ‘convert’ a person’s gender identity or expression and/or sexual orientation preferably to that...
Functional as the Enemy of Fair: Seizing the Moment for Rights-Based Abortion Reform in Aotearoa
Aotearoa New Zealand is often cited (with varying degrees of romanticism) as a light of liberal progressivism. It is therefore perhaps surprising that a legal framework which criminalised abortion endured...
Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in New Zealand
In 2007, the United Nations adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It affirmed that the right to self-determination is a universal right. It belongs to indigenous peoples,...
New Zealand’s Abortion Law Reform
During the 2017 New Zealand election campaign, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern pledged to decriminalise abortion if elected. This was the first time in decades abortion reform seemed to be politically...
Teitiota v New Zealand: A Step Forward in the Protection of Climate Refugees under International Human Rights Law?
On 7 January 2020, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) issued a landmark ruling in which it recognised, for the first time, that forcibly returning a person to a place...
Waitangi Day: Rights, Sovereignty and the Politics of a National Day
New Zealand celebrated its national day this week. Unlike Canada Day which marks the anniversary of the Canadian federation, or Australia Day which marks the anniversary of the establishment of...
New Zealand Supreme Court Recognises Fiduciary Duties To Enforce Collective Indigenous Rights
Judgments were delivered by the New Zealand Supreme Court on 28 February 2017 in Wakatu v Attorney-General. The High Court and Court of Appeal decisions had relied on the notion...
New Zealand on the Verge of Implementing Pay Equity
Current New Zealand legislation prohibits gender discrimination in pay rates for men and women who perform identical roles. This narrow interpretation of equal pay may be effective in curbing directly...
Good News at Last from Downunder on “Zero Hours” Contracts?
The Guardian report on banning “zero hours contracts” in New Zealand accurately reflects the unexpected delight of trade union campaigners at the political volte-face which saw unanimous parliamentary support for...
Report: ‘Constitutional Change in New Zealand (and a Bill of Rights for Britain?)’
On 17 February 2016, Oxford’s Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government hosted a talk by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Minister of Justice...
Prisoner Voting Rights in New Zealand: Standing Up for Democracy by Way of Constitutional Shake-Up
On 24 July 2015 in Taylor v Attorney General, a New Zealand High Court Judge effectively declared that New Zealand’s Parliament fell well short of its rights standards when it...
Sex Workers Equally Protected from Sexual Harassment as Other Workers – Says New Zealand Case
In 2003, New Zealand decriminalised sex work and established a system of safeguards for those engaged in such work through the Prostitution Reform Act. Just over a decade later, the...
