In New Zealand, freedom of speech doesn't have to be, and currently isn't, exclusively concerned with preventing the state from punishing people for speech. Nevertheless, people sometimes claim that freedom of speech has to take on that narrow meaning.
Read MoreNZBORA
Southern and Molyneux: hard questions and no easy answers
As a society, must we let obnoxious provocateurs have a public stage? How do we decide when others must bear the burden of their speech?
Read MoreThen they came for the Ballet Teachers… (or did they?)
An Attorney-General's Report that says a Government-supported Bill is an unjustifiable restriction on freedom of expression, claims of a ban on the phrase "ballet teacher", none of which turns out to be that exciting after all (probably).
Read MoreBy their acts ye shall know them
Wearing a wig is not a form of expression. Depending, that is, upon the sort of wig it is. And why the person is wearing it. Maybe. Hope that clears things up for you.
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.
Read MoreIt's a Sicilian message
Alfred Ngaro appears to think the Government can stop its critics taking part in government programmes. That's not just wrong from a political morality standpoint, it's flat out illegal.
Read MoreI'm surprised Hitler didn't round up the toupee people
Does a murderer really have the right to wear a hairpiece? Are we really living in such mad times? Or might things be a little more complex than that?
Read MoreKicking the can down the road
Why is the Crown fighting a court case it knows it is very unlikely to win? Because doing so stops it from having to face cases it really would prefer not to deal with.
[Update: see important revisory note at post's end!]
Read MorePolitics ... coming soon to a screen near you
The Court of Appeal's decision on the Planet Key's legal status means that we are likely to see and hear a lot more political advertising. And it also renders the Government's just announced reforms of party political broadcasts completely out of date.
Read MoreQuick - to the validating machine!
The Department of Corrections was doing what the courts told it was the law. The courts were wrong about that, so now the Department of Corrections owes prisoners compensation. That's exactly how our law is supposed to work.
Read MoreJust because it's been done before doesn't make it right
Auckland Transport appears to think that selling houses is a more important activity than trying to influence how people may vote. Is this just a sign of the times, or are they simply wrong?
Read MoreThe time is always right to do the right thing
Without anyone apparently noticing, the Auckland Transport Board has decided for Auckland ratepayers just when it is appropriate to convey their political beliefs to the world. Can they really do that?
Read More"Into the River" should not have been banned
The reasons given for imposing an order stopping anyone from being able to access Into the River do not justify it. The order is wrong.
Read MoreWon't someone PLEASE think of the children?
Just how dangerous can a book be? And in order to combat that danger, how far should our expressive freedoms be restrained?
Read MoreBliss was it in that dawn to be alive
A New Zealand High Court has just told Parliament that its law limits rights in a way that cannot be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. In other words, it failed in its basic task as a lawmaker.
Read MoreHow to win a death with dignity
Choosing to end your life on your own terms in order to avoid an inevitable lingering death is not suicide. So giving someone the means to do so should not be a crime.
Read MoreThere's something going down that wasn't here before
The High Court just cracked open the door to expressly telling Parliament that it has made laws that unacceptably breach human rights. But it also said that it really, really, really doesn't want to walk into that strange room.
Read MoreSomething To Dü
In a shameless piece of self-promotion, I'd like to tell you about an event I'm coordinating at the start of next month. Some of you might even like to come along to it ... .
Read MoreExile is a dream of glorious return
New Zealanders who stay overseas for too long don't get a vote. Is that right?
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