Dr Dean Knight

Nothing against the clerks re this — I know the managing the cars they had been dealt.

Rhetoric or Reality? Recasting Local Government's Purpose and Role No description supplied

Somewhat frustrating when I have published scholarship directly on one of the core changes in the bill and provided extensive commentary on another (members access to info). 🤷🏻‍♂️

openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/jou...

… — and only a couple of lunchtime slots left. Hmm, that’s tricky as that’s when I am convening an important university meeting. 🤷🏻‍♂️ …

Called by the Clerk’s office late morning today to see if I still wanted to speak to my written submission on the Local Govt Amendment Bill. Sure, I said. But the committee is only slated to be hearing oral evidence tomorrow between 9:50am and 1:40pm…

www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/lis...

"Deloitte Australia will issue a partial refund to the federal government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a $440,000 report littered with errors including three nonexistent academic references and a made-up quote from a Federal Court judgement."

Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

ICYMI: Prof Kate O’Regan — former judge of South Africa’s constitutional court — is speaking at the NZ Centre for Public Law at Victoria University of Wellington this Tuesday at 12:30pm.

Register here:
vuw.eventsair.com/public-lectu...

Great conference on the Bill of Rights Act, with insightful and sometimes challenging remarks.

Total 🐜 count = 81 across the two days.

Keynote remarks from the Chief.

🤦🏼‍♂️

Forgot to post the score at stumps sorry.
🐜 = 36 n/o

And David Lepofsky speaks about the Canadian experience re the duty to accommodate people with disabilities.

And an excellent session on human rights and technology — during which I engaged Meta-AI to make a cartoon of me at the conference. 😳

Interesting afternoon sessions on human rights … and employment law … and environmental law etc.

New Fitzgerald v Muldoon fact pattern for an exam just dropped…? Hmmm… 🤔

www.beehive.govt.nz/release/gove...

Lunch on the first day.

So far 13 weevils. 🐜

Also, I should note that I am recording a count of the number of times our precious rights instrument is described in terms of weevil… 🐜

And he proposes the repeal of section 4 — but subject a legislative override power. However, disallowance power wouldn’t apply retrospectively to existing legislation.

And typically rousing remarks from Sir Geoffrey!

Excellent keynote from Prof Kate O’Regan.*

* She’s speaking in Wellington next Tuesday too!

Bill of Rights Act: legacy and lessons — where to now? 🤓#hecklingfromthebackrow

Students rate identical lectures differently based on professor's gender, researchers find When philosophy students were asked to evaluate identical lectures assigned to men or women professors, their responses varied by gender. The study suggests gender bias plays a role in how teaching is...

www.psypost.org/students-rate-identical-lectures-differently-based-on-professors-gender-researchers-find/# #AcademicSky - it never ends.

Folks, who is in town already for the 🐜 conference at Canta tomorrow?

Māori lawyers reject Goldsmith’s comments over tikanga Māori court rulings Māori lawyers are rejecting comments by the Minister of Justice, saying “unique” court rulings recognising tikanga Māori could cost the country investment.

Māori lawyers are rejecting comments by the Minister of Justice, saying “unique” court rulings recognising tikanga Māori could cost the country investment.

#rantsandreckons | Dean Knight #rantsandreckons from me on the Electoral Amendment Bill. 🤓

www.linkedin.com/posts/drdean...

Regardless, it seems timely that Parliament and politicians reflect on how their moral or civic conscience should speak to the way they respond, when legally they continue to have full power to make law.

I suggested it might be more procedural, requiring the executive and Parliament to engage with the rights-dimensions as elaborated by the courts in a deliberate, good faith and principled way; ie, not merely formally and flippantly doubling down on the rights inconsistency.

For me, I don’t think that, here, it would be as high as legislating in conformity except in exceptional circumstances.