The Government has passed the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 11 December 2018. Parts of the Act came into effect the following day, on 12 December 2018, and further significant changes will come into effect from 6 May 2019. Changes immediately in force Union More »

Recap: Forestry planted after 1 January 1990 on land that was previously not in forest is eligible to be registered as post-1989 forest and to receive carbon credits (New Zealand Units or NZUs) for each year of growth and the carbon stored. It potentially offers a financial incentive to More »

The High Court is set to rule soon on whether to confirm that land on floodplains and other areas covered by big floods (which only occur once every 20-50 years) is within the “bed” of the “river” for the purposes of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). If it does, it More »

In May 2018 the government announced its plan to work to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis ( M. bovis ) over the next ten years. The spring bulk milk surveillance programme is a critical part of that eradication programme, allowing the Ministry for Primary Industries ( MPI ) to identify any areas where More »

Aggregation clauses play a vital role in all forms of insurance, although they have been discussed most commonly in the context of liability insurance. Aggregation fixes the amount recoverable by the assured where the assured's liability arises out of a number of separate acts of negligence. More »

A recent decision of Butcher J in the English High Court contains important guidance on the duties of insurance brokers both in the placement process and also in the provision of post-contractual advice. Most importantly, it determines an important and previously unresolved issue: when is a broker More »

The High Court has found that the Ministry of Primary Industries used the wrong powers in the Biosecurity Act 1993 (Act) when it seized and ordered the destruction or containment of approximately 48,000 fruit trees. The Court set aside the Ministry’s use of powers. Background The fruit trees More »

One of the main benefits of Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance in practice is the cover that it provides for defence costs in civil, criminal and regulatory proceedings. D&O policies generally exclude coverage where the director’s liability to a third party is found by judgment, More »

Earlier this month, the Christchurch High Court released two decisions resolving the five remaining appeals against the decision of Canterbury Regional Council ( ECan ) on Plan Change 5 ( PC5 ) to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan ( LWRP ). Four appeals lodged by Barrhill Chertsey More »