The Government is implementing its Coalition Agreements through introducing and passing a large amount of law reform. More than twice as many Bills are being enacted under urgency in this 54th Parliament than the 53rd Parliament. In this second year of the Coalition Government, the introduction, progression and enactment of Bills continues unabated. Lawyers must be ready to advise clients as to whether a Bill can be stopped, changed, slowed down, or sped up. This webinar will cover how to advise clients about amending legislation to get changes wanted, and how to be effective in advocating for amendments to be made before a Bill’s enactment, beyond just advising on what a Bill says. This webinar will focus on examples of Government Bills from the current Order Paper, and will discuss how the separation of powers (should) affect the content of Bills enacted, how policy-making to put into Bills for enactment has changed since November 2023, and what that means for the content of Bills.

Topics will cover essential knowledge about how law is made, including:

• The Standing Orders of the House of Representatives
• The Legislation Design and Advisory Committee (LDAC) Legislation Guidelines, McGee on Parliamentary Procedure and the Cabinet Manual
• Key players, including the Cabinet Legislation Committee, officials and the Parliamentary Counsel Office
• Drafting instructions and how to help your clients lobby for an Amendment Paper
• Effective use of the select committee submission process (where there is one)
• The principle of Bills being made to pass – some change is better than nothing.

Learning objectives

By attending this webinar you will:

• Better understand how a law is made.
• Know about the actions your client may take when wanting amendments to a Bill.
• Be better able to advise your clients.

Who should attend

All lawyers.

Resources

A PDF book is included in the webinar fee and will be emailed to you along with your ticket, one week before the webinar.

You will be emailed a link to join the webinar one week before. For information on what is required to participate in the webinar, click here. PowerPoint slides will be emailed out after 3pm the day before the webinar.

Fee (Incl GST)

Law Society Members benefit from up to 30% off
Webinar

• $149 – Law Society members & associate members
• $215 – Non-members
• $549 – Webinar Study Group - more info
• 2+1 registrations - more info (must be arranged at time of booking)

Do you want to register more than one person for this course? Use the multiple registration button below or Click here

Time

• Webinar 1.00pm-2.30pm, Tuesday 8 April 2025

Download PDF registration form

Webinar	8 April
I can't attend, but please let me know when the book is available to purchase.

Presenter

Mai Chen Barrister, Auckland Mai (LLB(Hons)(Otago)), (LLM(Harvard), Hon LLD(Otago), CMInstD) has advised on law reform for many years to public and private sector entities as Managing partner of Chen Palmer, the first Australasian Public Law specialist boutique firm she co-founded with Sir Geoffrey Palmer, and is the author of Public Law Toolbox (Lexis Nexis, 2nd edition, see Chapter 9 on “Making Law”) and Public Law in New Zealand (Oxford University Press) which she co-authored. Now at the bar, she continues to advise on Bills before and after they are introduced and while they travel through Parliament to enactment.

CPD

Attendance at the live webinar

• If you attended the live webinar, you will receive an electronic certificate of attendance as verification for your CPD records.
• You can view and hear the presentation again, as many times as you wish in your own time for no additional cost.

Registration but non-attendance on the day

• Under the CPD Scheme only those who attend a live webinar are eligible to claim CPD hours.
• If you registered but were unable to attend on the day, you can view and hear the archived recording of the presentation.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

You may cancel your registration eight working days in advance of an event, and you will receive a refund less a 25% administration fee. If you cancel less than eight working days in advance of the event, no refund is payable. If you are unable to attend, you may transfer your registration to another person. If you wish to do so you must advise CLE New Zealand Law Society in writing of the change. CLE reserves the right to close registrations, and cancel or reschedule an event as necessary. Where an event is cancelled by CLE, a full refund is payable.