Latest Legal CommentarIES
Wednesday, August 08, 2018
An Easy Read of the Rule of Law in the World of Fiction
It is now over 8 years since the Human Rights Review Tribunal first ruled in the Atkinson case that the then policy of the Ministry of Health that family members who provided care (usually full-time) for their seriously disabled (usually intellectually disabled) adult children were not entitled to be paid for so doing, notwithstanding that the State was prepared to pay professional care givers to do so. The Tribunal declared that the policy was discriminatory and unlawful. Appeals by the Ministry of Health to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal were dismissed, it being held that the policy constituted unlawful discrimination under the Bill of Rights Act [Ministry of Health v. Atkinson [2012] 3 NZLR 456 (CA)]. More...
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Bullying, Harassment and Gender Bias
Bullying and harassment have become big topics in the judicial and legal profession of late, highlighted by accusations of sexual harassment of young women summer clerks and a survey conducted by the Criminal Bar Association which claimed that a majority of those surveyed had witnessed or complained of bullying from the Bench. More...