Barker Rick: New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Barker Rick: New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1768] 
Hon RICK BARKER (Minister for Courts) 
: 
 I move  
That the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the Government Administration Committee for its efficient consideration of this bill. The bill makes minor amendments to the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Act and in the light of this the committee recommends no changes to the bill. The committee considered and heard one submission on the bill. The sole submitter agreed wholeheartedly with the amendments contained in the bill. 
Although some members may be familiar with law reports I wish to point out the important role law reports play in our legal system. The law of New Zealand is made up of two main sources: firstly statutes which are enacted by this House and secondly common law which we inherited from England and which has been added to by decisions of the New Zealand courts. The common law is also known as case law. Case law together with the doctrine of precedent plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and fairness of New Zealand’s justice system. 
The application of legal principles set down in past cases to new similar cases ensures that like cases are decided alike. This leads to greater certainty and fairness which are two important principles in New Zealand’s legal system. Law reports provide an important record of case law and precedent. They provide an official record of the key decisions of our courts. They do so in much the same way as the  
New Zealand Parliamentary Debates 
—known popularly as  
Hansard 
—record the debates of this House. Aside from promoting the fair and equal treatment of citizens the use of authorised law reports also provides accountability by opening up the judiciary’s decisions to scrutiny. Without a reliable publication of judgments the validity of case law and precedent is jeopardised. 
The  
New Zealand Law Reports  
have been published since 1881 and in 1938 their preparation and publication was established on a formal statutory basis. Since then the number of key decisions reported has grown significantly. Until 1971 all reported judgments could be contained in one annual volume. Reports are published initially in several parts then consolidated into volumes. From 1972 to 1988 two volumes were required annually then from 2004 three volumes were required. From 2005 four volumes have been required annually. The existing Act provides for law reporting in New Zealand to be carried out by the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting. The council currently records the key judgments of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in the  
New Zealand Law Reports 
 which are recognised as New Zealand’s principal source of official law reports. 
The New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill provides for the inclusion of the Supreme Court decisions into the existing regime of reporting and publishing that is provided for under the Act. Currently all decisions of the Supreme Court are available on the website of the Ministry of Justice and that practice will continue. The Council of Law Reporting will take the text of the court’s decisions and add high-quality headnotes and summaries of counsel’s arguments. Given the importance of the Supreme Court’s decisions those reports will need to be of the highest quality and the council has agreed to a protocol with the court to allow judges the opportunity to check each report before publication. 
Currently only the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting is able to publish the judgments of higher courts. The bill contains three exceptions to that authority. The bill reaffirms the ability of the New Zealand Law Society to authorise the alternative publication of the judgments of those courts if the council has failed to publish or to arrange to be published the decisions of the courts within a reasonable time and for a reasonable cost. The bill also clarifies the ability of the New Zealand Law Society to authorise the publication of judgments of the High Court the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in specialist law reports or other occasional publications. The third exception relates to judgments of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice following consultation with the Law Society may authorise the alternative publication of Supreme Court judgments where appropriate. Again I would like to thank the Government Administration Committee for its timely consideration of the bill. I commend the bill to the House.