General
« Previous Entries Next Entries »The case against Michael Reed
Friday, July 9th, 2010Michael Reed QC, Morning Report on Wednesday: The jury were completely convinced that David hadn’t done it. This betrays either a gob-smacking ignorance of fundamental principles of criminal law, or an intention to mislead the public about the significance of a not-guilty verdict. Fortunately, one of the Bain jurors seems to understand the law better […]
Stormin’ Norman
Monday, June 21st, 2010So police have investigated the incident in which Greens leader Russel Norman claimed to have been assaulted by members of the Chinese delegation who wrenched a Tibetan flag from his grasp on the grounds of Parliament… and concluded that there is “insufficient evidence to substantiate any assault charges at this time”. Police say the “available […]
Siemer wins reduction in sentence for contempt
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Vince Siemer has reshaped the law of contempt in New Zealand. The Supreme Court has ruled 3-2 that the Bill of Rights right to a jury trial applies to those charged with contempt, since they face potential jail terms of more than 3 months. But since it’s unfeasible to give all contempt respondents jury trials, […]
Hate speech
Monday, May 10th, 2010In recent issues of the Listener, Deborah Hill Cone has been upping the frequency of her snarky swipes at the left. Last week, she highlighted the irony of liberals who preach tolerance but try to “shut down” Ann Coulter’s speech. She suggested that “[c]onservative speakers can’t visit campuses in the US now without bodyguards”. What, […]
Sir Geoffrey Palmer: the fourth branch of government
Monday, May 10th, 2010A sentence from the Herald on Sunday’s story about Louise Nicolas’s objections to Clint Rickards’ presence of the duty solicitor roster caught my eye: A lawyer, who did not want to be named for fear of punishment from the Law Commission, said there were many people at the courthouse “who don’t want the guy in […]
America: Fuck yeah!
Thursday, May 6th, 2010The Onion reports on a US Supreme Court obscenity decision upholding First Amendment rights. Recommended, if only for the accompanying photograph.
Scotland’s Dunne v Canwest
Friday, April 30th, 2010Remember Peter Dunne’s successful legal action forcing his inclusion in TV3’s televised election debate? The Scottish National party has tried it too. Not so successfully though. [PS Decision here. A few notable things. First, it’s hard to disagree with the party’s claim that the debates really are extremely significant in determining electoral support. The Liberal Democrats’ […]
Back on the block
Friday, April 23rd, 2010I’m back in Wellington after a sojourn in Melbourne for most of six months. While we’re not talking about media law, I will take the opportunity to post the alternate version of the Australian national anthem I composed for them while I was over there. I have long been impressed by the line “Our home is girt by sea”. It’s […]
Michael Laws breaches broadcasting standards again
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010The BSA has pinged RadioLive talkback host Michael Laws yet again, this time for “blatant misrepresentation”. He had an exchange of emails with a health official concerned with Maori smoking that said: Laws: Stick to trying to get Māori to quit smoking, will you? Not exactly a sparkling success story, is it? Broughton: Not really. […]
Mau about gay issues
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Well, recent events have given a certain piquancy to the broadcasting standards complaint about this exchange between Paul Henry and Alison Mau, on Breakfast last year: Henry: …a little bit later in the morning I thought we might talk about the Acting Principal Family Court Judge’s call that it’s time the adoption laws were updated […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »