The job of an international human rights lawyer isn't always battling for the angels. Sometimes it involves having to look out for the interests of devils, as Golriz Ghahraman did.
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Simon Bridges thinks that Simon Bridges is eroding parliamentary democracy
Changes to parliamentary procedure that Simon Bridges helped craft and then explicitly championed while in Government now appear to be bad for National in opposition. So Simon Bridges thinks that they are the worst attack on democratic rights we have ever seen.
Read MoreWell you picked your tree, now bark it up
The Labour-NZ First coalition deal proposes taking our electoral laws back to 2001-2005. I don't think thats a good place to revisit.
Read MoreHow governments form under MMP ...
AUT's Julienne Molineaux has written a must-read guide to post-election processes ... anyone wanting to know anything about this should go and read it.
Read MoreNot That Kind of Voting
What the Electoral Commission’s attempt to boost turnout gets wrong about voting, and what we can learn from it.
Just when will the fat lady start singing this election?
We'll know the election night results very early on Saturday evening. But we likely won't know the election outcome until early October.
Read MoreDid Murray McCully mislead Parliament?
If Murray McCully told Parliament that MFAT told him legal risk justified the Saudi Sheep deal, then why does MFAT say they never told him that?
Read MoreNo Gareth, you shall not go to the debate tonight
Gareth Morgan's attempt to have the High Court thrust him into tonight's TVNZ minor party leaders' debate failed. On the whole, taking everything into account, that's probably a good thing.
Read More"Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts ... "
National apparently doesn't think gang members with criminal records are properly human. Or, rather, they don't deserve to be given the same rights that full humans possess.
Read MoreRecognising the time value of money
Because the value of a dollar changes over time, Teina Pora's compensation payment for wrongful conviction was fundamentally unfair. The High Court has just reminded the Government of this apparently simple fact.
Read MoreWho breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
Metiria Turei's admission about past rule breaking looks to have cost her a ministerial position, even if the Greens are part of Government after September. That's a pretty heavy penalty for being overly silly some twenty-four years ago.
Read MoreDon't listen to Mark Richardson ... he's just wrong
There are still reasons for caution about Jacinda Ardern's rise to the Labour leadership. The fact she may one day have children is not one of them - and Mark Richardson doesn't understand how anti-discrimination law works.
Read More"We have been here before"
You probably want to read about Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern. But I want to talk about what our recently very busy Court of Appeal has been up to.
Read MoreA little bit more on Winston's proposed referendums
Winston Peters says his price for government is two binding referendums. If we believe him, which we probably shouldn't, then let's note some more problems with his proposal.
Read MoreIt's really too nice of a Sunday morning to be outraged
Sir Geoffrey Palmer fears that the Government's response to a Supreme Court ruling may be "deeply offensive to the rule of law and a constitutional outrage." At the risk of challenging a legal Goliath, I must demur.
Read MoreThis is why they can't have nice things
Did Labour set up an overseas intern scheme in order to evade the limit on political party election expenses? No ... no it did not.
Read MoreIt's not the crime, it's the coverup
The story of Aaron Gilmore ... sorry, Todd Barclay's ... behaviour towards his electorate staff has just got a lot more interesting, as new details about the efforts to cover it up emerge. Might the Police have reason to again become interested in it?
Read MoreOut of the biscuit tin, into the House
It's a quirky part of our lawmaking processes that important legislative developments may depend upon the right token getting pulled out of a biscuit tin. Today it was the turn of Euthanasia/Aid in Dying and Medicinal Marijuana to come out.
Read MoreTaylor strikes again (but still has no right to take his place in the human race)
The Court of Appeal has upheld Arthur Taylor's challenge to the ban on prisoner voting under the NZ Bill of Rights Act ... except that he personally shouldn't have been able to bring the case in the first place, and he still won't be able to vote. But still - exciting!
Read MoreArthur Taylor wins again ...
... or, rather, the fellow prisoners who joined his application to have the legislative ban on prisoners voting declared inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act win again.
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