law

Categories under law

Repost: Not the war on men you’re looking for

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, July 10th, 2014 - 224 comments

It’s headline news again: Labour is trying to take away men’s rights and exile you all to a desert island. If you believe David Farrar, that is.

Does a ‘news medium’ consist of spreading defamation, lies and rumours?

Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, June 22nd, 2014 - 45 comments

The Whaleoil blog is in court on Monday. There is a full day session in the High Court in Auckland looking at the appeal by Cameron Slater against Judge Blackie’s decision in the District Court that the blog is not a news medium. Therefore Slater was not a journalist, and was therefore not able to protect his sources who provided stolen material to allow him to apparently defame Matthew Blomfield. The decision will probably provide case law about the status of blogs in the law and the responsibilities of news mediums.

NRT: Good riddance to John Banks

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 9th, 2014 - 62 comments

The government has been stripped of its legislative majority and its policy programme, especially employment relations “reform”, is now in tatters. Now that Banks has going, we are seeing an extensive rewriting of history by the National government. Kind of pathetic really.

Imperator Fish: Move along please, sir

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 pm, June 7th, 2014 - 8 comments

As a senior member of the New Zealand Police, I would like to respond to allegations that the police were remiss in not prosecuting ACT Party MP the Hon John Banks. There is no police corruption here.  We may have been disgracefully, eye-wateringly incompetent, but we are not dirty. Now please move along, as we wish to put this entire incident behind us as quickly as we can, before too many questions are asked.

Highs, legal or otherwise

Written By: - Date published: 5:43 pm, April 28th, 2014 - 68 comments

I don’t use too many drugs because they interfere with my dominant programming addiction/work. But after decades of seeing people using pot, I can’t see any real problems with it if people use it in moderation. I have seen people with problems with excessive indulgence. But I’ve helped neighbours who have subsequently died from alcoholism as well. There is simply no way to definitively and fully protect everyone from themselves. We need to tax and regulate it. And if there is a substance that is fully tested on humans, then I’d have say it’d be pot… I can’t say the same about chemical manufacture of synthetic drugs.

NRT: Time to see if the Ombudsman will keep their word

Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, April 3rd, 2014 - 3 comments

Last month, we learned that Judith Collins had taken time off a taxpayer-funded trip to China to endorse her husband’s company – a company which had also donated significant sums of money to the National Party. The endorsement appeared to violate the Cabinet Manual, but John Key stepped up and claimed that the Cabinet Office said it was all OK. Then, just a few days later, he admitted that he’d lied about that. In the process, he implicitly raised serious questions about the quality of the Cabinet Office’s advice.

NRT: Climate change: “Adaptation”

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, April 2nd, 2014 - 51 comments

No Right Turn notes the typical response from politicians to the Fifth IPCC Assessment report. Perhaps that promoting legislation with a penalty of long prison terms for political negligence would help? It sounds like a good way for lazy politicians to retire. After all the law recognises negligence as being a criminal action in other spheres – why not for our political servants?

 

NRT: A dirty deal

Written By: - Date published: 6:33 pm, February 27th, 2014 - 46 comments

When the government dropped charges against former Pike River boss Peter Whittall over the Pike River mine explosion, they claimed that the simultaneous announcement that he would pay compensation to the families of the 29 men he was accused of killing was just a coincidence, and that there was no deal. As usual, they lied.

It’s not stolen – I just borrowed it without asking

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, February 23rd, 2014 - 51 comments

One of the areas of concern in the current Blomfield vs Slater defamation case was the theft and copying of documents and stored data owned by Blomfield. Slater is covering for the source of this material by claiming he is a journalist. However this guest post argues that clearly his possession of the material in itself constitutes a number of crimes under the Crimes Act. Which makes the police’s refusal to charge Slater without a valid legal explanation rather peculiar.

On Pike

Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, December 12th, 2013 - 97 comments

The decision announced today (but made when?) to withdraw the charges against Pike CEO Peter Whittall cannot be left to rest. When did a Judge of a New Zealand Court participate in a deal where criminal charges were dropped and money paid.  It is insufficient to say the two are not connected.  The money has […]

Pike River – Charges against Peter Whittall withdrawn

Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, December 12th, 2013 - 45 comments

The charges that Peter Whittall faced concerning the Pike River deaths have been withdrawn.  And he and the then directors of Pike River are paying $3.4 million compensation to the victims families.  While it is pleasing for the families to receive some compensation for their loss does the sanctity of our justice system require that the prosecutions should have continued?

A knighthood I would back

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, December 5th, 2013 - 46 comments

I don’t support knighthoods. I especially don’t support knighthoods being handed out to people who have just done their jobs at the end of their careers. You know, the gongs for ministers and CEOs. But if you are going to have honours, they should go to ordinary people who have truly gone above and beyond and acted where others failed. Arise, Sir Graham McCready.

I think Judge Blackie got it right.

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, December 3rd, 2013 - 77 comments

Cameron Slater simply isn’t a journalists arsewipe. For him to claim the legal privileges, protections and authority that the journalistic profession is just stupid. In the Blackie decision I think that the judge got it right, because one thing that the blogging community should not support is undeclared paid-for advertorial prosecution of individuals by blog operators. I suspect that is what the judge saw.

Collins ducks the questions again

Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, November 12th, 2013 - 23 comments

In today’s Herald Judith Collins again sidesteps the questions on trial processes on sexual abuse cases posed last week by Jan Logie and Andrew Little. The Minister for No is now dead keen to be seen to be doing something. I think  she should take up Metiria Turei’s suggestion to set up an all-party  group to consider the issues. One thing is absolutely clear; all wisdom does not reside in the mind of this Minister.

Bring back Simon Power

Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, November 8th, 2013 - 27 comments

This week in Parliament Judith Collins was in full-on “no” mode – no to alternative trial process for sexual abuse cases, and no to changes to the law of evidence in sexual abuse cases rising from Law Commission work commissioned by Simon Power. This morning on National Radio Jan Jordan of Victoria University called for that extensive work to be revisited. I think she is absolutely right; if carried through it can only lead to a better outcome than what we have at the moment.

The Prime Nanny

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, November 7th, 2013 - 23 comments

Parliament’s  Chief Nanny has been in full flight this week, trying to slap down questions from Jan Logie and Andrew Little about trial processes for sexual abuse cases. Nanny was very strict. Everyone else had got it wrong, and needed to be corrected. When Nanny got it wrong herself, as she did when answering Andrew Little, she backed off  quickly. When he challenged “so you don’t want to change anything”, she found the mild heckling “abusive”, which certainly does raise the bar, at least for herself.

It’s not just about cyber-culture, Judith

Written By: - Date published: 7:59 pm, November 4th, 2013 - 310 comments

The reports of the Roast Busters are chilling.  Watching 3 News tonight was very upsetting.  Reported responses by the police, John Key and Judith Collins are inadequate.  Key & Collins seem to be shifting the focus to cyber-bullying and away from the brutality of the physical acts. [Update: Scuba Nurse – positive steps to make a difference]

Govt responsible for 7 NZ deaths

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, November 4th, 2013 - 25 comments

National has agreed to lower the drink drive limit. Over 2 years ago they blocked a Labour amendment to do exactly the same thing. Their dithering has cost 7 New Zealand lives by their own measurements – 7 lives unfulfilled and families faced with unnecessary grief.

The two legs of Banks’ defence trip each other

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 17th, 2013 - 28 comments

John Banks is to stand trial for knowingly submitting a false electoral expenses return. He’s charged, thanks to the private prosecution after the Police failed to act, with breaching s134(1) of the Local Electoral Act. Let’s take a look at the two lines of defence Banks has argued, and how they contradict each other.

NRT: Laws are for little people – again

Written By: - Date published: 4:53 pm, August 29th, 2013 - 22 comments

No Right Turn looks at the police decision on the unlawful GCSB interceptions of DotCom’s communications. Of course getting the police to investigate their own requests for the GCSB to perform an unlawful activity is like putting a stoat in charge of kiwi chicks. Perhaps a private prosecution of the GCSB and the police would be a more productive.

If lawyers don’t understand the law…

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, August 21st, 2013 - 32 comments

Then it’s a bad law. Who does John Key think is going to interpret the GCSB law other than lawyers from the Law Commission, the Human Rights Tribunal, the Privacy Commissioner etc?

Bad law making – GCSB Bill

Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, August 21st, 2013 - 29 comments

Grant Robertson & David Cunliffe explain how the GCSB Bill is bad law (especially section 8 & related sections). It doesn’t provide adequate oversight or safeguards against the wholesale spying on New Zealanders. A clarifying statement from the PM is not good law. Andrea Vance demystifies the Bill.

RIP Groklaw

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, August 21st, 2013 - 28 comments

Groklaw has been an inspirational blog for many with an interest in geekery or the law. I read it daily during the years of the SCO trial. PJ and her team were and are amazing. But now it’s over. Killed by the death of privacy, and the world that the Key-Dunne spying bill is bringing ever closer to NZ.

John Key – GCSB fool (or liar)

Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, August 16th, 2013 - 142 comments

On Campbell Live, and on other occasions, John Key has claimed that critics of the GCSB spying bill were all wrong. The Human Rights Commission – wrong. The Law Society – wrong. The Privacy Commissioner – wrong. Dame Anne Salmond – wrong. Everyone else wrong – only he – John Key – and his secret advisors were right, and we the sheeple have nothing to fear.

Now in a stunning embarrassment it is Key that has had to admit that he was wrong. Or a liar.

Tech Liberty on GCSB Bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:19 am, August 15th, 2013 - 8 comments

Thomas Beagle at Tech Liberty has done a great job at presenting the technicalities of the Key-Dunne GCSB spying bill – see for example: “Does the new GCSB Bill give them the power to spy on New Zealanders?”. (Spoiler Alert! The answer is Yes.)

Law Society – GCSB Bill still flawed

Written By: - Date published: 6:13 pm, August 6th, 2013 - 23 comments

A timely press release from the Law Society. The revisions to the GCSB Bill “do not address the fundamental flaws in the bill and the legislation should not proceed”. Peter Dunne, your last fig-leaf is ripped away. Please do not vote for this travesty.

Privacy tools

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, July 4th, 2013 - 33 comments

It looks like privacy is going to be an increasingly rare commodity in the brave new world. Want to protect yours? Here are some tools.

Spying against the law? Whatever…

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, July 2nd, 2013 - 18 comments

Key’s enquiry into the GCSB report leak appears to have broken the law. He doesn’t give a damn. What a clear and timely example of exactly why Key and the GCSB can’t be trusted with further powers. “Nothing to hide nothing to fear” my arse.

GCSB Bill – for shame

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, June 25th, 2013 - 34 comments

The Law Society is not exactly a hotbed of leftie activism. So the supporters of this appallingly arrogant government should sit up and take notice when they speak out as clearly as this against the GCSB spying bill. Two faced Key is simultaneously claiming that the current law is both unclear and “very clear”. He needs to be called out on it.

How to spot fascism

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 pm, May 23rd, 2013 - 95 comments

This. This is fascism. Giving spies the powers that they have in the States could prevent the kind of terrorism that just happened … in the States. The fascist author of this piece that the Herald disgracefully published even wrote: “if you have nothing to hide from the GCSB, then you have nothing to fear.” Do people actually say that and mean it? Yes, fascists do.

Police actions unlawful

Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, May 22nd, 2013 - 215 comments

The report on the Urewera raids from the Independent Police Complaints Authority is (unlike some other reports we could mention) certainly no whitewash.