Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Chair
Bronagh McKenna, Barrister, Kate Sheppard Chambers
Rights as a Constraint on Administrative Decision-Making
- Do rights impose a substantive or procedural constraint on administrative decisions?
- Overview of Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Ltd (SC)
- Contrast with UK and Canadian approaches
- Review of recent High Court decisions
- What consideration of rights is required of an administrative decision-maker?
- What assessment is required of a court reviewing an administrative decision for breach of a right?
- What is the appropriate relief if a breach is established?
Presented by James Tocher, Senior Solicitor, Russell McVeagh
Learning Objective:
- Navigate rights-based constraints in administrative decisions.
Presenters
James Tocher, Senior Solicitor, Russell McVeagh
James is a Senior Solicitor in the litigation team at Russell McVeagh's Wellington office. Before joining Russell McVeagh in 2023, James was a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers and was previously a judges' clerk at the High Court in Wellington. James has appeared before all the senior courts on a variety of public law and commercial disputes. James has recent experience with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, including appearing as junior counsel before the Supreme Court in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Ltd [2022] NZSC 138 on freedom of expression issues, and leading argument before the Court of Appeal on the successful Baigent damages claim for breach of natural justice in X & Y v Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki [2022] NZCA 622.
Bronagh McKenna, Barrister, Kate Sheppard Chambers
Bronagh is an experienced litigator, with particular expertise in public law, human rights and international law. Over two decades of legal experience, she has acted for government, international organisations, and blue-chip corporates. Before joining the independent bar in 2023, Bronagh was a Crown Counsel in the Crown Law Office’s Constitutional and Human Rights team. She advised government departments and other Crown agencies on a wide range of matters including the exercise of statutory powers, compliance with administrative law duties, the scope of rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, the extent of New Zealand’s international law obligations and their domestic implementation, and inquiry-related issues. Bronagh’s international experience spans both the criminal and commercial spheres. It includes over seven years as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bronagh has also practised as a competition lawyer with premier London law firm Slaughter and May.
