Legislation
Finding an Act
New Zealand Acts (or Statutes) are available full text in LexisNexis NZ [helpsheet] and Brookers Online [helpsheet].
In these databases you will find statutes such as:
- Commerce Act 1986
- Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
- Copyright Act 1994
- Employment Relations Act 2000
- Employment Relations (Validation of Union Registration and Other Matters) Amendment 2001
- Fair Trading Act 1986
- Health and Safety in Employment Act 2002
- Holidays Act 2003
Legislation is also on the internet via PAL - Public Access to Legislation Project on the New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office site. PAL is the government initiative to provide public access to legislation. Use with caution - this site is only updated on
a monthly basis and has no accompanying editorial comment.
Acts are also available in print form in the General Library: Statutes
of New Zealand [Voyager record].
The New Zealand and Pacific Collection on Level G contains a copy of every Act of Parliament ever passed in New Zealand. They are bound together in volumes each year.
To know what legislation is in force and to find which print volume an Act is in use:
- The print version Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force [Voyager record]
or
- In the New Zealand & Pacific Collection on Level G in the General Library a wall chart listing legislation in force is on the end of the stack ending NZP 346.4 N53. This chart will either give you an RS and a number or just a number. Note the year of the Act and its number. For RS look in the Reprinted Statutes shelved at NZP 346.3 N56re.
See further
information provided by the Davis Law Library.
Understanding the legislative
process: from Bill to Act
The Office of the Clerk has
compiled a Parliament brief on the Legislative process.
To follow the debate and readings... All speeches in the Chamber are recorded in the Parliamentary Debates which is commonly known as Hansard. Hansard is available:
- In print
form shelved in the New Zealand & Pacific Collection on Level G. Each volume has an index. To find the debate associated with a piece of legislation search in the ‘Sessional index’ in the last volume of each Session (usually coincides with a calendar year). Within the BILLS entry of the Index look under the title of the Bill to find
the page where the debates appear.
- The Library database Hansard has the full text of the transcripts, from 1987 onwards and is searchable.
- Hansard from 2003 onwards is online via the
New Zealand
Parliament website. You are able to search for speeches
by particular MPs or on specific topics, as well as search debates
and Questions for Oral Answer
For the text of a Bill see:
- Brookers Online - Bills of New Zealand includes Current Bills, Defeated Bills, Enacted Bills and Historic Clauses. This is a useful database as it includes explanatory notes and Select Committee reports.
- See also the Brookers Bills Versions database.
- LegislationNZ
For additional information see also:
- FAQs from the Parliamentary Counsel Office (explanations of Bills, Acts, Regulations)
- Davis Law Library links to New Zealand Legislation
Case law
Case law is law set out in judicial decisions, as distinct from statute law. Selected
New Zealand case law is indexed in
LinxPlus,
within LexisNexis NZ, and
Briefcase,
within Brookers
Online. Both databases provide links to unreported judgments where available. The databases also provide the
citation to where the case has been formally published in a reporting series. It is advisable to read the published case in this reported format. See the Davis Law Library explanation understanding legal citations.
IntelliConnect from CCH New Zealand provides access to case law for a wide variety of resources including: Tax; Employment Law; Company Law; Health and Safety; Business Law; Property and Conveyancing; Trusts; E-commerce Law; Customs and Duties; and Sales and Marketing
Some of the more commonly used reporting series are:
For brief summaries of judgments and decisions see also:
For additional case law resources see: Davis Law Library links to New Zealand Case law.
Books and legal commentaries
Voyager
There is an extensive range of materials devoted to business law. Search
Voyager, the library's online catalogue, for detailed holdings.
Voyager subject headings
Below is a selection of Subject Headings to help get you started. They open up a Voyager subject heading index. From this screen click on a subject heading of interest to display a corresponding list of books and journals:
Useful books
Check Voyager to note how many copies of a book are held and their locations. Where possible consult the latest edition of the text.
Legal research
Journals
To find specific journal articles on a topic search
LinxPlus, or AGIS Plus Text. Some relevant material may also be on ABI/Inform, Business
Source Premier, Index New Zealand or Newztext
Plus. If the article is not available full text online note citation details of articles of interest then check
Voyager to see if the library holds the journal.
Electronic access
See also: Davis Law Library links to New Zealand Legal Journals
Reference material
Understanding legal citations
See the Davis Law Library explanation understanding legal citations.
Legal abbreviations
Encyclopedia
- Laws of New Zealand,
fulltext online in LexisNexis NZ, is
the New Zealand legal encyclopedia. Read legal commentary and follow referrals to
relevant statutes, case law and commentary
Dictionaries
Government websites
Citation & style guides
- NEW online 2009 McLay, G., Murray, C., & Orpin, J. (2009). New Zealand Law Style Guide. Wellington, N.Z. : Thomson Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.lawfoundation.org.nz/style-guide/index.html
'Provides an authoritative and unified framework of styles used by New Zealand’s courts, law schools, legal practitioners and legal publishers'.
- NEW 2009 LCANZ Legal Citations of Aotearoa New Zealand
- Legal Research and Writing Guide
- by Paul Myburgh, the Faculty of Law's style guide. Use this to help with referencing queries.
- The Department of Commercial Law's style guide is based on the New Zealand Business Law Quarterly - see
Author style guide
- Publication manual of the American Psychological Association in which see Appendix D, References to legal materials
See also
For more in depth guidance see the Davis Law Library database and course pages
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