Do New Zealand lawyers need our protection?

by Nicole Buxeda

Key points:

What is the Cab Rank Rule & how does it affect New Zealand lawyers?

Greg King and what we learned from his suffering.

Who offers care and protection for those practicing law?

Shakespeare wrote in Henry VI ‘The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.’ So should we? How justified are we when we mock the trustworthiness of the legal profession and what does it mean for individuals who practice it? Recently, top criminal defence lawyer Greg King committed suicide, drawing attention to the depression rates within the profession and the heavy burdens that practitioners face. The NZ Lawyer calls depression ‘the legal profession’s gorilla in the closet’. While there is growing awareness of the strains of the legal profession, there still remains a negative public opinion and stereotype associated with practicing law. The Greg King tragedy brought to light the need to protect and support lawyers. Knowledge about a lawyer's obligations, and the requirements of the Cab Rank Rule can be seen as a vital step forward for the industry and a step towards preventing others suffering the way Greg King did.

Inequality: A threat to Democracy?

Key Points:   

            Overview of inequality in New Zealand

            A revolution of the right: reforms and re-reforms

            Inequality: a threat to democracy?

            A new crisis with an old solution

The global financial crisis of 2008 and the deep recession that followed have given people throughout the world pause to consider the changes that have occurred in their societies in the last few decades. Massive protests have erupted in response both to the revelations of scandalous irresponsibility on the part of business elites and to austerity programs implemented to “solve” the crisis. With the Eurozone teetering in crisis and the United States experiencing a painfully slow and jobless recovery, New Zealand has fared relatively well.

Sheltered from the worst of the speculative maelstrom by the stability of the Australian banking system, we have been able to sit and wait patiently for commodity prices to bounce back, without having to resort to the desperate policies of many other Western governments. We are now a “rock star” economy according to analysts, with economic growth projected to be in the top six of the OECD nations.[1] But is this rosy picture deceptive? This article will attempt to answer this question, taking as its point of departure the proposition that the success of a nation’s economy should be measured by how the majority of its citizens fare.

Rationales of Copyright

By Thomas Coughlan

Key Points:   

            Property rights: the historical context

            Why copyright was established: natural law or artificial creation?

            Justifications for the establishment of copyright

            How history influences our understanding of copyright

           

           

When we discuss intellectual property in the 21^st century, most of us acknowledge that some form of property exists in those ideas that spring forth from our minds and onto our pages, canvasses or computer screens. This sense of proprietorship seems so instinctual that the mere suggestion of claiming another’s intellectual property as one’s own is often greeted with great disgust. The strength of these emotions would suggest that intellectual property belongs to the natural law, a body of moral, reasoned law that was best described by Christopher Saint German in 1518 as ‘written on the heart’ of all humans – indeed, this much was said when early positive intellectual property laws were drafted. This article will attempt to examine the contrary. By looking at the intellectual climate that sustained the drafting of early copyright laws, it will demonstrate that, far from belonging to the natural law, intellectual property (specifically, copyright) was an artificial creation intended to serve politics and the marketplace.