14 January 2010

We The People(s): Participation and Engagement in Government



The NZ Centre for Public Law is running a conference in early February (11th & 12th), exploring the public's engagement and participation in government. 

I'm one of the folk organising it (and speaking at it too) but it fair to say - I hope - that the line up looks really interesting.  I'd encourage people to consider attending.

> NZCPL: "We The People(s)" [brochure and registration form]

1 comment:

Idiot/Savant said...

The line-up does indeed look interesting - but I don't see a lot of "the people" there, and the price is a significant barrier to their entry. A satirist could have a field day with that...

14 January, 2010 22:49

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Course Lecturer

Dean Knight

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law
Associate, New Zealand Centre for Public Law
Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand

PhD Candidate
London School of Economics and Political Science
United Kingdom

Email: dean.knight@vuw.ac.nz

Course Outline

Lord Justice Lawton in Maxwell v Department of Trade and Industry [1974] 2 All ER 122 said:

"From time to time ... lawyers and judges have tried to define what constitutes fairness. Like defining an elephant, it is not easy to do, although fairness in practice has the elephantine quality of being easy to recognise. As a result of these efforts a word in common usage has acquired the trappings of legalism: 'acting fairly' has become 'acting in accordance with the rules of natural justice', and on occasion has been dressed up with Latin tags. This phrase in my opinion serves no useful purpose and in recent years it has encouraged lawyers to try to put those who hold inquiries into legal straitjackets.... For the purposes of my judgment I intend to ask myself this simple question: did the [decision-maker] act fairly towards the plaintiff?"


This course examines the elephantine concept of fairness in the law, along with other contemporary legal issues.

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