Archive

A list of posts in reverse chronological order.

A pod of killer whales off the coast of Spain keeps attacking s 4 of the Bill of Rights Act

A plea for medium-term consequences

Strictly Obiter Law Awards 2022

Can you identify the Supreme Court of New Zealand from these headlines?

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!

Vicki McCall

Great Capital Letter editorials from history

What is a guideline judgment? By the President of the Court of Appeal

The Lower Cases (May 2022)

All Grounded Kiwis judgment commentary in one place

New approach from judiciary to reduce large number of outstanding jury trials

Sovereign citizens and lawyers: how to tell them apart

Obiter Legal Rankings

Strictly Obiter Law Awards 2021

The Supreme Court’s pizza order

A short account of hazards faced in court

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Friday 27 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Thursday 26 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Wednesday 25 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Tuesday 24 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Monday 23 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Friday 20 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Thursday 19 August 2021

Strictly Obiter Alert Level 4 Quiz – Wednesday 18 August 2021

The CJ and the CBA

Where will the Supreme Court sit in Auckland?

The best of the High Court – 1988 edition (or, yet more proof NZLII is excellent)

An account of the 10 minutes before the interim orders hearing on the “free speech” Council venue cases

The pernicious habit

Reports suggest justice system costs money

An appeal judgment

Bold, novel, ambitious, and valiant

Towards a national emergency stockpile of interesting reserved judgments

Commentary about the Trusts Act 2019 except the word trust is replaced by tryst

Constitutional meta-principles in New Zealand

Martial law “unable to be accessed by most New Zealanders”

A public law fortune teller

Article titles about Rylands v Fletcher arranged so they sound like an increasingly tired film franchise

With apologies to AP Herbert – Haddock v Empire Television Holdings (a firm)

New Zealand Law’s Tile Guide

Equity: an exclusive interview

New Court of Appeal Practice Note On Approach To Precedent

A late entry for NZ law firm Employer of Choice Award 2020

On Covid and Advocacy

Spin-off announced to popular “Legal System”

The effect of Zhang v R on meth sentencings, or, very bad statistics

Supplementary Remote Hearing Protocol for Courts of New Zealand

I read all 562 paragraphs of the Court of Appeal’s Strathboss decision so you don’t have to

Members of Supreme Court regretting choosing to bubble together

On sparrows

Latest Supreme Court decision bad news for Chief Justice

Akuhata v R [2020] NZCA 19 – appellate consequences of a failure to engage s 27 of the Sentencing Act 2002 at first instance

Be my Valentine

Fitzgerald v Muldoon [1976] 2 NZLR 615 (SC) told in memes

The New Zealand senior court hierarchy if seniority was determined by surname Scrabble score

A template memorandum for a procedural hearing

Answers to the second back to work quiz, or, “technically I’m not sure that counts”

The second Strictly Obiter quiz for the recently returned to work

The only New Zealand lawyer Power list you will ever need

A short history of the seal of the High Court of New Zealand

You can only read this post if you promise to make a submission to the Rules Committee

Strictly Obiter’s 2019 Law Awards

Chief Justice: judiciary will send “much stronger signals” to executive on sentences

The second-to-last nail in the coffin

The Court of Appeal’s recipe for a chocolate cake

Uncollected thoughts on Zhang v R [2019] NZCA 507

The first case note on Zhang v R: meth sentencing pipe dreams

Complete list of High Court (and former Supreme Court) judges whose names sound like geographical features that are the setting for a Famous Five novel by Enid Blyton

On co-defendants’ statements and admissibility

Real Jock Anderson headline or pale imitation?

A farewell to the Auckland High Court Crown Room

Legal horoscopes

Famous songs as written by lawyers

On articles of faith

The Giant and the Swan

Famous musicals as written by lawyers

Detective mode

Advice on not thinking about law all the time

A coronial constitutional curiosity

The highest court in the land

A runcible spoon

Sena v Police [2019] NZSC 55 as applied to sentencing appeals

A draft Court of Appeal Practice Note regarding legal tests on appeal

A short report from the launch event of the Aotearoa Legal Workers Union

Nine of the best puns in Otago law student Honours dissertations

Coroners’ powers to prohibit publication of the name of a deceased person

Nonsense on Twitter – week of 1 April 2019

The Reweti shuffle, or, a plea for a principled fudge

Eventual findings of the just-announced inquiry into intelligence services

Ten legal pseudonyms listed in order of plausibility

The most lawless place in New Zealand

Template statement for law firms on innovation and legal tech

Editorial: the Tax Working Group’s proposed changes are unworkable, by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel

Editorial: the majesty of the Court of Appeal hearing centre, by the designer of the Court of Appeal hearing centre

The #CJFest Chief Justice Conference Dinner in full

Viva la revolucion!

A short rant of incoherent thoughts on the Taylor costs decision

Answers to the quiz, or: fact check this, you nerds

Strictly Obiter’s quiz for the recently-returned-to-work

Chief Justice spends summer break barricading herself in chambers

New legal trends for 2019

Opera singer or lawyer?

EXCLUSIVE: five questions with the Supreme Court of New Zealand

7 good opening paragraphs in New Zealand judgments (and 3 kinda okay ones to make it an even 10)

The world’s only jurisprudence joke

New QCs announcement causes dozens of workplace injuries

The two problems with rule 2.8

Moot problems what I done wrote

A (perhaps partially) complete list of Colin Craig’s recent litigation

An ambitious list of respondents

There is no High Court in Whanganui

Downs J on writing style

Supreme Court Guess Who, or, who will hear a Lundy Supreme Court appeal?

Supreme Court insists it has already delivered decision in Attorney-General v Taylor

Thoughts on Solicitor-General v Heta [2018] NZHC 2853

Serious legal resource to teach toddlers about the hierarchy of courts

Chief Justice talks about the C word

Chief Justice’s camp confirms fitness for Friday’s fight

Law Society applies for hyperinjunction to prevent people talking about its superinjunction

Alternative law-related names for famous artworks

Thoughts on a new National Standards Committee

The fox, the chicken and the grain – the Supreme Court decision in New Health

What is the “one legal change” that has seen the prison population skyrocket?

Diverting offenders or stifling prosecution?

New Law Society Gender Equality Charter to ensure that male lawyers receive just as much sexual harassment as women

Bail appeals as general appeals: a case not on T v R [2018] NZCA 56

New proposed varieties of declarations of inconsistency under NZBORA

Famous novels as written by lawyers

Job vacancy – enforcement officer, New Zealand Law Style Guide

Complete list of High Court (and former Supreme Court) judges whose names sound like recipe instructions

Template statement for law firms in light of the Russell McVeagh revelations

Thoughts on Z v R [2016] NZCA 312, [2017] 2 NZLR 433

Case of the day – “stop hitting yourself” edition

The original McKenzie friend became a QC

Meanwhile, at the ceremonial opening of the Dunedin courthouse

The function of appellate judges (part two)

Inspirational judicial quotes, vol 1

The best New Zealand law firm URLs

How to be a better lawyer in 2018

High Court judges and modern conveniences

Sentencing notes in R v Santa Claus

Judicial language decoded

The function of appellate judges

Legal Halloween part 2

Lord Hoffmann on Lord Denning

Desire paths, or, brief thoughts on guideline judgments prompted by Setu v R [2017] NZHC 1839

The Supreme Court’s new ceremonial robes

The lyrics of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” as a unilateral offer in contract law

Legal Halloween

Oh dear.  Oh dear.  Oh dear. 

Woodhouse J on ducks and disorder

Kidnapping with a few extra elements

Issues with interpreters

Famous movies as written by lawyers

RNZ interview with Dame Judith Potter

Case notes on recent Australian coronial law

How many charges is a “raft” of charges?

With apologies to Steve Braunias – an account of Morgan v TVNZ [2017] NZHC 2178