Areas of New Zealand law
Browse NZ case law by doctrinal area — each hub maps to the Council-of-Legal-Education compulsory subjects plus admin, treaty, and ethics. Citations follow the NZ Law Style Guide 3rd ed.
Public Law
Public-law cases interpreting NZ's constitution-without-a-text — the Constitution Act 1986, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and the Treaty of Waitangi …
Criminal Law
Criminal-law cases on the Crimes Act 1961 and Summary Proceedings Act. R v Wholesale Distributors anchors the strict-liability presumption. R v Cumming on party…
Contracts
Contract-law cases under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (which consolidated NZ contract statutes) and common-law backdrop. Vector Gas v Bay of Plenty …
Tort
Tort cases reflecting NZ's distinctive ACC bar: the Accident Compensation Act 2001 prevents personal-injury negligence claims for covered injuries. Couch v Atto…
Property
Property-law cases under the Land Transfer Act 2017 and modern equity. Frazer v Walker is the landmark statement of indefeasibility under the Torrens system. Sa…
Equity
Equity and trusts under the Trusts Act 2019 (which modernised express-trust rules) and inherited common-law principle. Lankow v Rose on de facto constructive tr…
Legal System
Cases on the sources of NZ law — the Treaty of Waitangi, common law, statute, and tikanga Maori as part of the common law (Ellis v R 2022). Taylor v New Zealand…
Legal Ethics
Lawyers' duties under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and Conduct and Client Care Rules. Bolitho v Auckland Standards Committee on the duty to the court. …
Administrative
Judicial review under the Judicial Review Procedure Act 2016 and common-law principle. Lab Tests Auckland on procurement-fairness review. Wolf on procedural fai…
Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty jurisprudence — partnership and active protection (Lands case 1987), customary title (Ngāti Apa 2003 — overtaken by the Foreshore and Seabed Act and now …