Attend this seminar and walk away with an extensive toolkit to utilise in your human rights matters. Hear from the chairperson of the Human Rights Review Tribunal as she guides you through best practice and procedure in the tribunal. Explore the law around declarations of inconsistency, when they can be sought and the leading cases, and finish by assessing damages for breaches of human rights. 

Presenters

Mr. 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.


Mr. Paul Rishworth KC, Barrister, Britomart Chambers
Paul’s practice comprises litigation and advice on matters of constitutional and human rights law in New Zealand and the Pacific. Paul has represented and advised individuals, governments, Crown entities and institutions on claims at all levels of the New Zealand court system, as well as before the Human Rights Review Tribunal and inquiries. He teaches Human Rights Law in the postgraduate programme at Auckland Law School. Paul is a member of the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee and chairs the New Zealand Law Society’s Human Rights and Privacy Committee. He served as Legal Advisor and Attorney-General for Pitcairn Islands from 2007 to 2015.


Ms. Sarah Eyre, Chairperson, Human Rights Review Tribunal
Sarah Eyre was appointed the Chairperson of the Human Rights Review Tribunal in 2022. Ms Eyre was appointed as a Disputes Tribunal Referee in 2011, an appointment she held for 8 years. She has been a barrister since 2014 specialising in public law and dispute resolution. She has held a statutory warrant as a Visiting Justice for 4 years and has been a Deputy Chairperson for a Complaints Assessment Committee for the Real Estate Agents Authority. Ms Eyre was appointed as a Deputy Chairperson of the Human Rights Review Tribunal in 2019. She is a member of the Pacific Lawyers Association and established the Pasifika Sunrise cultural group at St Joseph’s Cathedral School in Dunedin in 2016. Sarah Eyre began her professional career as a Refugee Status Officer with the NZ Immigration Service. She then worked as a Solicitor and then Associate with Walters Williams and Co and subsequently Powell Webber and Associates in Auckland. She provided advice on Treaty of Waitangi Claims and refugee and migrant issues, appearing before both the Waitangi Tribunal and the Refugee Status Appeals Authority.


Mr. Matt McKillop, Barrister, Masons Lane Chambers
Matt practices in the fields of human rights, public law, and medico-legal issues including mental health and disability law. Alongside two other barristers, Matt established Masons Lane Chambers in 2023 after nine years as a lawyer in the Constitutional and Human Rights team at Crown Law. Matt has appeared as lead and junior counsel in courts at every level, from the Supreme Court to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. He is currently acting as junior counsel to the Solicitor-General in the Crown’s Supreme Court appeal of Chisnall v Attorney-General, a leading declaration of inconsistency case. Matt’s academic interests are in mental health and disability law, and its intersection with criminal law. In 2019 he received an O’Brien Graduate Fellowship for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill University in Montréal.