title: COVID-19, RMA reform, and abrogating the Rule of Law

authors: Daya-Winterbottom, Trevor

abstract: My presentation will interrogate the forces that threaten the Rule of Law for the Environment by critically examining the phenomena of domestic moves in New Zealand to streamline and simplify environmental adjudication through the principled lens of administrative law and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). My presentation is focused on three issues.

text: COVID-19, RMA reform, and abrogating the Rule of Law My presentation will interrogate the forces that threaten the Rule of Law for the Environment by critically examining the phenomena of domestic moves in New Zealand to streamline and simplify environmental adjudication through the principled lens of administrative law and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). My presentation is focused on three issues.

year: 2020

title: Decoding the puzzle: Chinese culture, familial transfers, and disputes in Western courts

authors: Liao, Zhixiong (Leo)

abstract: More and more Chinese live in Western countries nowadays and many disputes over transfers between Chinese family members are brought to Western courts. Generally, little documentary evidence on such transactions is available and the oral evidence is commonly divergent as to what was agreed and what happened. Western judges are faced with the puzzle whether the transfer was a gift, a loan, or an equity investment. This article elaborates on the relevant Chinese cultural dimensions and the recent developments. It discusses the cultural relevance in determining the nature of such transfers and investigates whether clearly established Chinese cultural norms could be admissible evidence aiding the interpretation, or even implied terms, of the transaction. It argues that Chinese culture should be seriously considered in assessing the credibility of Chinese witnesses. This article critiques the prevailing common law presumptions, and proposes an analytical model aiming to assist Western judges and lawyers to assess the cultural influence properly for better answers to the puzzles.

text: Decoding the puzzle: Chinese culture, familial transfers, and disputes in Western courts More and more Chinese live in Western countries nowadays and many disputes over transfers between Chinese family members are brought to Western courts. Generally, little documentary evidence on such transactions is available and the oral evidence is commonly divergent as to what was agreed and what happened. Western judges are faced with the puzzle whether the transfer was a gift, a loan, or an equity investment. This article elaborates on the relevant Chinese cultural dimensions and the recent developments. It discusses the cultural relevance in determining the nature of such transfers and investigates whether clearly established Chinese cultural norms could be admissible evidence aiding the interpretation, or even implied terms, of the transaction. It argues that Chinese culture should be seriously considered in assessing the credibility of Chinese witnesses. This article critiques the prevailing common law presumptions, and proposes an analytical model aiming to assist Western judges and lawyers to assess the cultural influence properly for better answers to the puzzles.

year: 2022

title: Working at the interface: Indigenous students’ experience of undertaking doctoral studies in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: McKinley, Elizabeth

subjects: Māori

abstract: Māori (indigenous)¹ doctoral students in Aotearoa New Zealand face challenges not usually experienced by other doctoral candidates. We draw on data from in-depth interviews with 38 Māori doctoral candidates and argue that because of the tensions between academic disciplinary knowledge frameworks and knowledge drawn from te ao Māori (the Māori world) indigenous students have additional cultural, academic, and personal demands placed on them while aiming to produce research theses that meet conventional standards of academic scholarship. Complex methodological and ethical issues also emerge in undertaking doctoral research projects situated at the interface of academy and indigenous communities. Moreover, Māori students experience various degrees of tension between their sometimes strong cultural identities and their emerging and, therefore, less certain identities as researchers and scholars.

text: Working at the interface: Indigenous students’ experience of undertaking doctoral studies in Aotearoa New Zealand Māori (indigenous)¹ doctoral students in Aotearoa New Zealand face challenges not usually experienced by other doctoral candidates. We draw on data from in-depth interviews with 38 Māori doctoral candidates and argue that because of the tensions between academic disciplinary knowledge frameworks and knowledge drawn from te ao Māori (the Māori world) indigenous students have additional cultural, academic, and personal demands placed on them while aiming to produce research theses that meet conventional standards of academic scholarship. Complex methodological and ethical issues also emerge in undertaking doctoral research projects situated at the interface of academy and indigenous communities. Moreover, Māori students experience various degrees of tension between their sometimes strong cultural identities and their emerging and, therefore, less certain identities as researchers and scholars.

year: 2011