Wilkinson Kate: New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Wilkinson Kate: New Zealand Council of Law Reporting Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2474] 
KATE WILKINSON (National) 
: 
 Some may not consider this bill to be of much importance some such as my colleague Mr Finlayson take a keen interest in it and others will not think that this is a vital area for the State to be deliberating on. In fact if we read the Government Administration Committee’s report we see that the hearing of evidence on this bill took only 15 minutes. One submission was received and the consideration took a total of 25 minutes. 
So why is there not more interest in such a riveting albeit not lengthy bill? What does the legislation purport to do? Well it produces the  
New Zealand Law Reports 
 which is the authoritative set of key judgments of New Zealand’s higher courts: the High Court the Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court—and interestingly enough the Land Valuation Tribunal. I have to say that after 26 years as a lawyer in practice I do not know of anyone who has ever appeared before that tribunal. I also say that I have spent comparatively little time delving into the detail of the  
New Zealand Law Reports 
. 
I have to ask how many times decisions of the Land Valuation Tribunal have been referred to. The Land Valuation Tribunal is a specialist tribunal that deals with matters arising from a number of Acts including matters to do with land valuations—surprisingly enough—and titles. This tribunal is comprised of a chairperson who is a District Court judge and two registered valuers. 
But is it more important to record the decisions of the Land Valuation Tribunal than those of the Birdlings Flat Land Titles Commissioner? This commissioner also deals with titles albeit limited to Birdlings Flat land which is in Canterbury—Crusader country in case members need awareness of that. But the Birdlings Flat Land Titles Commissioner is also listed on the Ministry of Justice website as a tribunal. Why are the Land Valuation Tribunal decisions considered more important and more deserving of being reported in the  
New Zealand Law Reports  
than the decisions—I am sure they are numerous—of the Birdlings Flat Land Titles Commissioner? 
We have many specialist tribunals in New Zealand and the Land Valuation Tribunal is but one. But only the Land Valuation Tribunal has been singled out for this specialist treatment. Of course many of the decisions of the other tribunals are recorded but not under the auspices of the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting. There is every opportunity for inconsistency of standards between the various tribunals. Why not include in this bill the decisions of the Liquor Licensing Authority—that authority also comprises a District Court judge plus three members—the Environment Court or as my colleague Mr Finlayson said the Maori Appellate Court? They are increasingly important court decisions they are often technical and they can have a huge impact on future developments. 
With the continued delay in amending the Resource Management Act it is even more important for the Environment Court that its decisions are reported properly and accurately. But the decisions of the Environment Court are not the responsibility of the New Zealand Council of Law Reporting and again one would have to ask why. I am sorry to go back to it but what singles out the Land Valuation Tribunal decisions as being more important than the Environment Court ones? 
The New Zealand Council of Law Reporting is the body responsible for producing this official series of reports. High-quality reporting of legal judgments is an absolute must. In New Zealand where our legal system is based on statute law and case law it is absolutely imperative that the case law is authoritative of a high quality accurate reliable and consistent. That case law is reported in the  
New Zealand Law Reports 
. Those cases set the precedents on which later cases rely. They must be right. It is extremely important that we have an official series of law reports. They assist the lawyers they assist the judges and they assist the public to gain access to key court decisions. 
This bill is technical; it is a machinery-type bill. Although there may be some questions raised about it and about the reasons why some tribunal decisions are included and some are not at the end of the day it is sensible to include Supreme Court decisions in the  
New Zealand Law Reports 
. It is important to maintain the accuracy integrity consistency and reliability of judgments. National supports this bill.