Publications

Legal publications and resources from our team on a wide range of legal subjects and hot topics critical to our clients' needs.

Publications

Legal publications and resources from our team on a wide range of legal subjects and hot topics critical to our clients' needs.

Published
Published by Laura Monahan
New cartel laws
An amendment to the Commerce Act 1986, the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2017 (the “Act”) came into force on 15 August 2017, after six years before Parliament. The Act enhances New Zealand’s protections against anti-competitive behaviour and expands the scope of what can be considered as illegal cartel conduct under the Commerce Act. Cartel provisionsSection 30 of the Act provides that no person may enter into a contract or arrangement that contains a cartel provision, or give effect to a cartel provision. A cartel provision includes the following in relation to the supply or acquisition of goods or services in New Zealand: Price fixing; Restricting output; or Market allocating. “Price fixing” remains unchanged in this amendment, and includes agreements between competitors that fix or provide for the fixing of the price for goods and services supplied or acquired, or for the discount, allowance, rebate or credit in relation to any goods or services supplied or acquired.
Published
Published by
Charities update

The past year has seen a number of Court decisions in the charities area which may impact on your charity. As has long been established, only charities that advance exclusively charitable purposes can remain registered charities under the Charities Act 2005. For a purpose to be charitable it must advance the public benefit in a way that is analogous to cases that have previously been held to be charitable, thus it is important to be aware of recent decisions and consider how they may impact your charity or its purposes.

Published
Published by Daniel Shore
Trust disputes and the High Court

Trust disputes often arise due to differing views and personalities amongst trustees and/or trustee misconduct. Sometimes a ‘problem trustee’ is willing to retire, and retirement and replacement simply happens via the trust deed. But often that is not the case, or is not possible, and the High Court needs to step in. This article addresses the High Court’s jurisdiction around trusts and, in particular, trustee removal and replacement.

Published
Published by
Amendments to the Resource Management Act - Māori participation

In this article, we outline the changes to the Resource Management Act 1991 in relation to iwi participation in policy statements and plan changes which took effect on 19 April 2017.

Published
Published by
Tax changes for charities and volunteers

The Taxation Bill proposes an amendment that extends deregistration tax rules to include non-registered charities that cease being charitable at law. The Bill also clarifies that assets will only be excluded from the calculation of deregistration tax if those assets have been transferred or disposed of. Further, payment to volunteers will only be deemed taxable income if it is in honorarium, and not a reimbursement, and there is the option to choose a tax rate on honoraria payments from 10%.

Published
Published by
Seven things you should know about the latest RMA reforms

The Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 has made important changes to the Resource Management Act 1991 and four other Acts across a range of areas. This article identifies seven things that you should know about the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017.

Published
Published by
Testamentary guardians: Should your child have one?

The Care of Children Act 2004 makes provision for a parent to appoint Testamentary Guardians for their children through their will. If both parents (or one parent in some situations) die without a Testamentary Guardian appointed, it will be a decision of the Courts to appoint a guardian for your children. There is no guarantee that your child/children will be appointed a Testamentary Guardian that you would have chosen yourself.

Published
Published by
Beneficiary access to information - The new Trusts Bill

A beneficiary of a Trust does not have a right (as such) to information held by the Trust. Beneficiaries can request information from trustees, however, trustees can refuse to provide it in exercising their fiduciary duties. But what does that mean/what process do they have to go through in deciding whether or not to disclose information? If the new Trusts Bill is enacted, the law around disclosure of information to beneficiaries will be made clearer.

Published
Published by Amanda Hockley
Resource legislation amendments - Changes to the land acquisition process

In this article, we provide an update on the amendments to the land acquisition process as part of the recent resource legislation amendments.

Published
Published by
Protecting Māori interests in the Takutai Moana

The Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 acknowledges the importance of the marine and coastal area to all New Zealanders and provides for the recognition of the customary rights of iwi, hapū and whānau in the common marine and coastal area. Public access to the common marine and coastal area is guaranteed by the Act.

Published
Published by
2017 Unit Titles Reforms

This article looks into the Regulatory Systems (Building and Housing) Amendment Act 2017 and the Unit Titles Amendment Regulations 2017, which both came into force on 30 May 2017.

Published
Published by
Trust busting (Part 2): Constructive trusts

There have been a number of Court decisions in recent years in which it has been found that assets of a trust can be accessed for the purposes of a relationship property division. In Vervoort v Forrest & Ors the Court of Appeal refused to recognise the existence of a constructive trust, however lessons can be learned from this decision, which is summarised in this article.

Published
Published by
New standards for the testing of meth-contaminated properties

In this article, we provide an update on the development of new standards for the testing and treatment of properties contaminated by methamphetamine. 

Published
Published by Daniel Shore
Changes to the construction retentions regime

In this article we summarise the imminent changes to the construction retentions regime.

Published
Published by
Changes to Enduring Powers of Attorney 2017

Changes to Enduring Powers of Attorney have just come into force.