New Zealand Legal Research

This guide provides information about researching New Zealand law, including books, subscription databases, and free internet resources. To learn more about starting research in a foreign law jurisdiction you're unfamiliar with please visit our instructional video on Foreign Law Research Basics.  The primary focus of this guide is on English-language materials, but Te Reo (Māori Language) materials are also discussed.  

• 1769  - New Zealand declared a British possession.
• 1840 - Treaty of Waitangi made colonial status law.
• 1846 -  British Parliament passed the Constitution Act
• 1852 - British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act  
• 1907 - New Zealand became a dominion, colonial status unchanged
• 1931 - Granted independence under the Statute of Westminster
• 1947 - Enacted the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act granting the constitutional monarchy full independence
• 1973 - Independence formalized under the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act

New Zealand operates as a unitary state with a unicameral legislature (there exists in its Parliament only a House of Representatives, with no Upper House).  The Constitution Act and New Zealand Constitution Act anchor the modern New Zealand constitution.  Due to its history as part of the United Kingdom, New Zealand still operates using the common law tradition. New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Commercial Law

Corporate Law

A list of New Zealand Law Journals is freely available on worldlii.org. 

Full Text Law Reviews & Journals

Indicies to Legal Scholarship

New Zealand has no written constitution, although a constitution exists in a series of statutes, letters of patent, treaties, and tradition.   The British Parliament passed the Constitution Act of 1846 which was soon superseded by the New Zealand Constitution Act of 1852, which provides the anchor to New Zealand's modern constitution.

The national legislature is the Parliament of New Zealand. 120 members are chosen in a mixed member parliament (MMP) method. The parliament chooses a government based on majority of a single party or a coalition of parties. The de facto head of government is the Prime Minister of New Zealand. However, the executive head of the government is the Queen, with power vested in an appointed Governor General.

The legislative process is outlined the Parliament Brief on the legislative process.  The official series for statutory law is the Statutes of New Zealand which begins in 1860.

Statutes passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom may also still be in full force and effect.

The three major courts are the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Court of Appeals.   WorldLII.org provides a detailed online listing of courts and court reports.  The University of Waikato also provides a Directory of Decisions.  The New Zealand Law Reports is the official publication for case law. 

Additional online access to cases is available through:

The context surrounding a legal issue can be an extremely important part of the research process.  News sources can help researchers stay up to date and provide an important frame of reference.  The University of Waikato has a helpful Research Guide on:

Current New Zealand news sources are available through Lexis, Westlaw, and Factiva: 

Historical news is available through the following databases: 

  Ask Us! Submit a question or search our knowledge base.

Chat with us! Chat  with a librarian (HLS only)

Email: research@law.harvard.edu

 Contact Historical & Special Collections at specialc@law.harvard.edu

 Meet with Us  Schedule an online consult with a Librarian

Hours  Library Hours

Classes View Training Calendar

This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

You may reproduce any part of it for noncommercial purposes as long as credit is included and it is shared in the same manner.