Applications open for Chief Executive role

The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa is looking for a new leader at an exciting time of significant change in the profession and for the professional body.  Our current Chief Executive Helen Morgan-Banda, the first non-lawyer to lead the organisation, has led us through some significant…

Planned Changes to New Zealand Law Society’s Operational Leadership

The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa Board has announced planned changes to the operational leadership of the Society as it moves into the next phase of its evolution.

Historic Membership to Law Society Council

The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa is delighted to welcome Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa and the Pacific Lawyers Association as permanent members of our Council. At a meeting in Wellington on Thursday 15 October the Law Society’s Constitution was amended by Council members to…

Law Society response to media criticism of regulatory system

This week a number of media stories have been published about the legal profession, criminal convictions, the complaints and disciplinary system, and the practising certificate process that have contained misleading or incorrect information. The Law Society would like to provide clarity on the co-regulatory model in place to consider complaints and…

Law Society seeks public understanding of lawyers roles in terrorism sentencing

The sentencing of the man who carried out the Christchurch terrorism attack in 2019 has begun in the Christchurch High Court today. It is the first time in New Zealand that someone will be sentenced under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 and where the Court may consider the appropriateness of…

Law Society proposes changes to define unacceptable conduct

For the first time ever the New Zealand Law Society is proposing changes which mean that discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and other unacceptable conduct within the legal profession will be clearly defined; there will be a clear threshold for when unacceptable conduct should be reported to the Law Society;…

Sexual Violence Legislation Bill: Law Society concerns

The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa believes the opportunity has been missed to make some much-needed improvements to the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill following the Justice select committee’s recent report back to Parliament. In a letter to Justice Minister Andrew Little, the Law Society laid out its concerns and…

Emergency COVID-19 legislation needs additional safeguards, says Law Society

The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act, recently passed under urgency, enables orders imposing the most profound peacetime restrictions ever made to the rights and personal freedoms of all New Zealanders, and the New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa has recommended nine amendments to provide additional safeguards on the exercise…

COVID-19 debt and insolvency legislation needs more work, says Law Society

Legislation being fast-tracked through Parliament to respond to looming debt and insolvency problems needs refinement and to be supported by comprehensive practical guidance, particularly for the small-to-medium businesses that make up the bulk of New Zealand’s business activity, the New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa has told the Epidemic Response…

A message from the Secretary for Justice, Andrew Kibblewhite

Andrew Kibblewhite Kia ora tatou, I hope you and the ones who matter most to you are safe and well in these uncertain times. As I write this, the Prime Minister has just announced that Alert Level 4 will continue until midnight on Monday 27 April, with Alert Level 3 running for at…