Andrew Geddis is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago.
Even before Covid, the idea that spending too long away from New Zealand should lose you the right to vote made little sense.
Did a legislative gap allow the offender to escape the law’s grasp? Well, no.
It's precisely when power is being exercised in emergency situations that we need to be most alive to its potential overreach.
Thanks to two new government decisions, masks and record-keeping will be a far more common part of life from now on. But how will implementation actually work?
The group argues that the commission gave bad advice to the government based on faulty carbon calculations.
The risk of MPs' institutionalised maladaptation is certainly extreme, but is a 15-year cap on a seat in parliament the answer?
In which one of NZ's top electoral experts pledges: If the term ever gets extended without a referendum, I will run down the main street of Pūrākaunui naked.
Though the controversy over the duo's visit happened well before the Christchurch massacre, the spectre of the shootings was never far from this case.
The premature dismissal of compensation for a woman wrongly convicted and sentenced to a year of home detention is morally and practically ill-founded.
It comes down to this: is such an unprecedented decision a 'demonstrably justified' limit on people’s rights, explains public law expert Andrew Geddis.
The argument that we should keep the Queen to avoid being saddled with a worse alternative is spurious at best.
There are legal and moral issues around enforcement for failing to properly isolate. But if our goal is stamping out Covid, don't overlook the unintended consequences.
Sorry, but you can’t go in front of a court after an election (or referendum) and simply say, 'I don’t like how things were done – so let’s have another go'.
Think of it as a 'friends with arranged benefits' relationship.
With the government set to take shape in the next few weeks, Labour and the Greens will have to decide on the nature of their relationship for the next three years. Andrew Geddis takes us through the options at hand.
Winston Peters claims complete exoneration, but the idea the fundraising activities of the NZ First Foundation are unlinked to the party just won’t wash.
The court will be asked to rule that the current voting age, while legally valid, is a form of unjustified age discrimination.
In choosing to lead with the threat that Covid-19 poses the court makes it abundantly clear that it is going to cut the government a lot of slack.
Parliament is scheduled to be dissolved today for an election on September 19. University of Otago law professor Andrew Geddis runs through how and under what circumstances the election will happen – or be delayed.
One of those moments when we can see why political activism of all kinds actually matters.
The Borrowdale case, which goes before a full bench in the High Court today, demonstrates a society taking its basic governing commitments seriously, writes Andrew Geddis. As time goes by, it …
The court said a prison sentence was 'manifestly unjust', but it had no alternative.
Last night should have been a cause for muted celebration in parliament. Instead, it's been overshadowed by procedural games and unhelpful amendments.
While the announcement that nobody in managed isolation will be allowed out early on compassionate grounds might sound reassuring, its legal basis appears extremely shaky.
The government says it's providing an essential service as the country emerges from Covid-19; the opposition says it's election propaganda in disguise.
The shortcomings seem to reflect a broader problem with how Māori have been overlooked in the plans to move to level two.
