Ross Meurant: For Justice To Be Served

Gina Lollobrigida once said: “We are all born to die, the difference is the intensity with which we choose to live.”

Machiavelli said: “Fortune (luck) rules only half a man’s life; The other half being their will.”

Born equal as we may be, it’s how one performs as one wanders through this odyssey called life, that determines our fate.

NZCPR Newsletter: Feature Article - State of the Nation 2025

Freedom, democracy, and the Rule of Law are the cornerstones of a modern society.

Let’s start 2025 with a quick stocktake on how well these foundations are being defended.

First of all, it’s important to remind ourselves that the Coalition was elected on the promise of reversing Labour’s destructive policy agenda that was undermining all three pillars of our society.

Gary Judd KC: The rule of law is not a political tool

The New Zealand Law Society is conducting a survey on the rule of law. See Rule of law survey – add to the discussion, fifth item. In question 5 of the survey, one is asked to describe, with a limit of 2000 characters, what one considers to be the elements of the rule of law. Then, in question 6, which you cannot go to unless and until you have answered question 5, the Society provides its version of the rule of law. Fortunately, I made a copy of the Society’s version, because I find I cannot go back into the survey as I have already completed it. This is how I answered question 5.

Allan Beever: The rule of law is fundamental to a free society

So why don’t NZ courts always uphold it?

Ever since the 17th century, the rule of law has been regarded as one of the fundamental values of a free society. It means you cannot be forced to do something unless there is a law requiring you to do it.

It also means people in power can coerce you only if there is a rule justifying it. This is the opposite of the “rule of persons”, in which the rulers have arbitrary power: they have the authority to force you to do things simply because they think those things should be done.

Gary Judd KC: Law Society disestablishes Rule of Law Committee

NZLS abolishes Rule of Law Committee, dumps expert advisers

This essay was published in the Auckland District Law Society’s LawNews on 6 August 2023 under the headline “NZLS abolishes Rule of Law Committee, dumps expert advisers.” The New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) supposedly exists to represent lawyers and to serve their interests. As lawyers are subject to the fundamental obligation to uphold the rule of law and facilitate the administration of justice, one might have thought the last thing the Society would do is to deprive itself and the legal profession of the assistance of a group of eminent academic and practising lawyers dedicated to assisting lawyers and the Society with rule of law issues. Yet, that is what has happened. This essay examines the circumstances.

Judicial independence is a critical ingredient of the rule of law. Tom Bingham’s The Rule of Law[1] has a lot to say about it. For example,

Gary Judd KC: The Humpty Dumpty approach to the rule of law

Decolonisation and more

This article was published by the Auckland District Law Society’s LawNews on 31 March 2023. It concerns Justice Glazebrook’s views about the rule of law and her apparent desire for the indigenous people to “take back power and control.” I am about to publish “Tikanga is not law #2,” which refers to this article.

A search of the final report of the Independent Review, Regulating Lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand reveals that "rule of law" appears 58 times. Notwithstanding the frequent use of the term and the report's recommendation that upholding the rule of law continue to be a fundamental obligation of lawyers and a statutory objective of the new independent regulator, the only time the report touches on its meaning is a brief and incomplete if not inaccurate, description in the Minority view of Professor Jacinta Ruru.

Bryce Wilkinson: Where is our supreme court on the rule of law

New Zealanders are lucky to live in a country which ranks towards the top globally for compliance with the rule of law. We owe this rich heritage to our predecessors.

When I was a young man, I took this blessing for granted. I did not understand the saying that every generation needs to fight for its own freedom of action. Where was the threat?

This article explains the fear that the threat is from within, and the trend is not our friend. When the rule of law is ill-understood, it can be eroded even by people who mean well.

Richard Epstein from the US: Ferguson and the Rule of Law

As most people by now know, on August 9 of this year, 18 year-old Michael Brown, a black man, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a 28 year-old white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. On November 19, the Ferguson Grand Jury decided not to indict Wilson. 

Few events this year have attracted more attention than the fatal interaction between Brown and Wilson and the grand jury decision to not to prosecute Wilson for any criminal offense from manslaughter to murder.

The chorus of criticism in response to these events in Ferguson has been harsh, widespread, and unrelenting. To many activists and social critics, Ferguson reveals that racism remains unabated in the United States 50 years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.