New Zealand heads to the polls on 23 September. For the last two months the landscape has been littered with election hoardings: Bill, Jacinda and Winston’s smiling faces have been everywhere on hoardings varying in shape, size, colour and, of course, political message. Many hoardings are More »

The Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (CCLA) comes into force on 1 September 2017, and brings with it an increasing shift towards user-friendly and modernised legislation. What is the CCLA? The CCLA repeals and combines the following commercial statutes into one Act: Carriage of Goods Act 1979; More »

On 4 July 2017 the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) ( Bill ) passed its first reading in Parliament and was referred to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee. The Bill seeks to address three topical issues for residential landlords and tenants: liability for careless More »

A recent decision from the Court of Appeal, Ebert Construction Ltd v Sanson and Bridgman [2017] NZCA 239, will reassure parties to construction contracts about the validity of a type of three-way financing arrangement known as a “direct agreement” (also known as direct payment More »

A recent case¹ has again highlighted the importance of clear drafting in relation to lease provisions and the danger of not documenting these correctly, relying on standard forms or covenants implied by statute. One of the common areas for disputes between landlords and tenants both during the More »

A new standard - NZS 8510:2017 - brings some clarity to testing and decontamination of methamphetamine contaminated properties. Methamphetamine; meth; "P"; "ice". Whatever you call it, meth is having a significant impact on New Zealand communities. It does not discriminate More »

Amidst a growing body of global thought leadership on blockchain and distributed ledger technology ( DLT ), the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) released its "Fintech and Financial Services: Initial Considerations" staff discussion note on 19 June 2017 ( IMF Paper )¹. The IMF More »

Earlier this month, Parliament passed the Education (Update) Amendment Bill, resulting in the biggest reform of the education system in nearly thirty years. Some of the key changes are outlined below. Cohort entry Schools will be allowed to choose to implement a system where new entrants will begin More »

A year has passed and we are yet to see a prosecution under the new HSWA in New Zealand. However with the on-going number of queries arising, particularly from a practical perspective, we thought it useful to recap on the new obligation to “consult, co-operate and co-ordinate” where More »