General
« Previous Entries Next Entries »NZ Lawyer column
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011In my recent NZ Lawyer column, I reverted to a blog format: Let’s face it. You’re busy people. You have short attention spans. So let’s move to a blog format and you can graze the bits you find most interesting. Pride or prejudice?Some of you may have seen my star turn on TV One News unpacking […]
Submission on the Video Camera Surveillance Bill
Thursday, September 29th, 2011Felix Geiringer and I drafted a submission on the Bill, and got it in with 5 minutes to spare before the midnight deadline. (Hope you enjoyed your opportunity for public input, people.) Here it is: Submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committeeon the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill SUMMARY OF VIEWS We […]
A thought
Monday, September 5th, 2011It’s worth pausing to reflect that Valerie Morse went to the lengths of burning a flag at an Anzac Day dawn ceremony to shake us out of our complacency and start questioning our involvement in foreign conflicts (the banner she was trying to draw attention to specifically mentioned Afghanistan). Nicky Hager’s book suggests that we […]
Getting it right
Monday, September 5th, 2011Nicky Hager’s surname is pronounced HAR-ger. You’d think people would know that by now.
Other People’s Wars
Thursday, September 1st, 2011As a few of you know, I vetted Nicky Hager’s new book, Other People’s Wars. It’s on sale now. I recommend it. Just as I found his last book, The Hollow Men, to be an education in the dark arts of political marketing, for me this one is an education our sickening suck-up to the […]
Darren Hughes’ accuser: will he be named?
Thursday, June 9th, 2011Now that the police have decided not to press charges against Darren Hughes, the obvious next question is whether his accuser can be named. For now, the answer is no. There is still an injunction in place. Someone will have to apply to court to have it lifted. Will the judge be sympathetic? I suspect […]
Unbelievable
Saturday, May 21st, 2011Some readers have wondered whether I’m exaggerating when I accuse the British press of being incapable of reporting fairly about so-called super-injunctions. Here I offer Exhibit A: today’s Guardian story about a long-awaited and fascinating report by a committee headed by the Master of the Rolls on the issue of injunctions, super-injunctions and anonymity orders. The […]
Which one is not like the others?
Monday, May 16th, 2011Famous victims of the justice system: Lindy Chamberlain, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the Guildford Four … and David Bain? Bain and Joe Karam are lined up to speak with these others at an international conference on justice in Perth next March. Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project will also be speaking.
Flag that
Saturday, May 7th, 2011Anyone reading today’s front-page story on the Morse flag-burning decision has every right to be confused. The paper correctly reports that the Supreme Court has found that it’s necessary to prove that offensive behaviour must give rise to a “disturbance of public order” before a conviction can be entered. But the paper reports that a […]
Journalists I like
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011I’m conscious of the fact that I often bag on journalists and media organisations. So I’ve decided to throw out the occasional bouquet too, in the interests of balance. First up: take a bow Margo White. Her recent Listener story on the Maungatautari Ecological Island reminded me what a terrific journalist she is: thorough, smart, […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »