Health care has become an enormously contentious political and intellectual issue over recent years, both in the United States and else-where in the world. Previously the debate had taken place mainly among technical people - academics and health specialists. Read more
To make sense of the tort system, we need to understand its operation as a system. Like any system, it consists of various parts which are closely interrelated. Read more
From ancient times to the present, information has made the world go round, from the most routine of transactions to the most complex. One critical issue therefore is what legal rules, if any, should govern the creation, dissemination and use of information. Read more
The theme of this paper is comparative liberalisation. My aim is to set within a comparative historical framework the remarkable economic reforms in New Zealand which began with the change of government in July 1984. Read more
This paper considers whether continuing the current direction of economic policy in New Zealand - "down the free-market track" - will be detrimental to social cohesion. The central questions are whether the economic growth process is socially disruptive and whether a reduction in the role of government in redistribution of income would be more likely to weaken or strengthen social cohesion. Read more
On 15 May 1991, parliament enacted the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA). Parts I and II of the ECA abolished all forms of compulsory unionism in New Zealand, and took bold steps toward restoring the common law of contract, property and tort to New Zealand labour markets. Read more
As President of the Court of Appeal, Sir Robin Cooke (as he then was) suggested that there may be common law rights that run so deep that parliament cannot abrogate them. One of these, he suggested, was a right of access to the 'ordinary Courts'. Read more
It is easy to find strong similarities between the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993 and the so-called anti-discrimination laws in the United States. Indeed, laws of this type are increasingly popular elsewhere in western democracies, and perhaps throughout the world, so that a comparison of these two systems carries with it wider implications. Read more
This paper has been prepared by ACIL Economics and Policy Pty Ltd (ACIL) and Tasman Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (Tasman) for the New Zealand Business Roundtable (NZBR). The paper is intended to provide further insights into the agricultural marketing issues raised by ACIL in an earlier report and subsequently developed through valuation work on dairy industry assets by Ireland, Wallace and Associates. Read more
This paper investigates the use of economic theory by common law judges. I shall begin that inquiry by propounding a gentle paradox. Read more
Crime has increased significantly in New Zealand over the past 20 years. New Zealand now has one of the highest burglary rates in the developed world, higher than the United States, Great Britain or Australia. Read more
The purpose of this study, which was supported by the New Zealand Business Roundtable, is to suggest the guiding principles for the reform of the welfare state. Plainly any such task involves taking a view about the ideal of a free society. Read more
It’s a pleasure to speak to an audience which reflects such a wide cross-section of the business community. In fact one of the most pleasing developments of recent years that has accomplished the resurgence of business in this country has been the resurgence of business organisations. Read more
Preliminary observations: The brief I accepted in preparing this report was to comment on employment law developments in New Zealand since the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (‘the ECA’) commenced operation on 15 May 1991. The ECA has major political, social, and economic, as well as legal, significance. Read more