The New Zealand Law Society has released a letter it sent to the Minster of Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon Michael Woodhouse, about amendments to the Health and Safety Reform Bill.

The letter, sent to Mr Woodhouse on 21 August, outlined the Law Society's concerns about insertion of Schedule 2A by the select committee in its report on the bill. The Law Society pointed to several issues around the Schedule and its approach to the handling of national security information in legal proceedings.

"The Law Society was unaware of a Supplementary Order Paper released by Mr Woodhouse on 19 August which made some changes to Schedule 2A. As a result our letter was written without reference to the changes," New Zealand Law Society President Chris Moore says.

"However, we have now reviewed the changes made to Schedule 2A. The impact of these is unclear in relation to the right to a fair trial, and the other concerns we raised in our letter remain. We feel it is important to release our letter in the public interest."

The letter to Hon Michael Woodhouse is available here.

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