Moira McFarland
In the second of our two-part 2025 series, we continue to highlight how The Law Association’s specialist law committees have been involved in significant legislative reform, technological change and an unprecedented demand for legal guidance.
The committees have taken a leading role, advocating for reform that has influenced policy, strengthened professional standards and supported practitioners navigating increasingly complex regulatory settings.
AML & CFT Committee
The AML & CFT Committee maintained an active legislative and policy program throughout 2025. It delivered two major submissions on the AML/CFT Amendment Bill, the first a comprehensive review of the bill’s substance and the second a targeted response to select committee queries.
Key issues included:
- The proposed beneficial-ownership framework and its practical implications for reporting entities;
- Redefinition of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and the potential compliance burden;
- The widening of supervisory powers and associated proportionality concerns;
- Strengthened address-verification obligations and risks of inconsistent application; and
- The danger that non-binding regulatory guidance could evolve into de facto mandatory rules.
The committee also contributed to the Statutes Amendment Bill, ensuring alignment and coherence with the broader legislative framework. A significant workstream involved responding to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on cash international fund transfers over $5,000, where the committee emphasised the operational challenges for Designated Non-Financial Business or Professions (DNFBP), the need for a genuinely risk-based regulatory model and potential adverse impacts on legitimate client transactions.
Throughout the year, the committee continued constructive engagement with the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Internal Affairs on the proposed Levy, supervisory expectations under the AML & CFT (Supervisor, Levy and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, and that the 2025 Statutory Review focuses on practicality, proportionality and system-wide consistency. At every stage, the committee advocated for proportionality, clarity and workability – particularly for small and low-risk legal practices.
Employment Law Committee
The Employment Law Committee delivered substantial contributions to law reform in 2025.
It submitted on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill 2025, cautioning that restricting access to personal grievances and redefining long-standing statutory concepts could destabilise the established balance between employers and employees, increase litigation risk and require clearer justification for such significant reform.
In its submission on the Employee Remuneration Disclosure Amendment Bill, the committee supported the bill’s transparency objectives but called for appropriate safeguards to prevent misuse, adverse workplace dynamics and unintended privacy consequences.
Members contributed valuable insight to TLANZ’s Legal Aid Triennial Review submission, raising concerns about access to justice for vulnerable workers, the limited availability of specialist advocates and systemic challenges within the ERA and Employment Court.
Progress continued on the committee’s long-standing initiative advocating for the regulation of employment advocates, noting mounting concerns about unethical fee practices, inadequate representation and strain on judicial resources caused by representatives unfamiliar with legal procedure.
One of the most significant developments of the year was TLANZ’s intervener status in Lanigan & Ors v Fonterra Brands (NZ) Ltd, a full-court proceeding concerning workplace biometric fingerprint technology. The intervention provided the court with detailed analysis on privacy, consent, data-retention limits and the boundaries of permissible workplace surveillance.
The committee also delivered early commentary on the proposed Employment Leave Act (Holidays Act reform) and successfully presented the inaugural Burning Issues Employment Law Conference 2025, which convened leading academics, practitioners and members of the judiciary for high-level discussion on emerging employment-law issues.
Family Law Committee
The Family Law Committee advanced significant reform and policy work in 2025.
Its detailed submission on the Regulatory Systems (Courts) Amendment Bill supported expanded decision-making jurisdiction for Family Court Associates but emphasised the need for stringent informed-consent processes, consistent practice directions across registries and enhanced safety measures for high-risk proceedings.
The committee continued engagement with the Ministry of Justice on the rollout of Te Au Rēka, providing practitioner-focused insights on system usability, workflow coherence, document accessibility, digital consent pathways and the reliability of the system under real-world conditions.
It also made a substantive submission on the consultation about the Review of the Probate Threshold and Statutory Legacy Amount on the Long-term Insights Briefing regarding courts, as well as consultation about Family Court fees and Access, advocating for equitable fee structures, clearer fee-setting rationales and measures to reduce barriers faced by self-represented litigants.
The committee continues to demonstrate a sustained commitment to improving accessibility, procedural fairness and national consistency in the Family Court.
Immigration and Refugee Law Committee
The Immigration & Refugee Law Committee continued to influence immigration law and system reform through multiple submissions and engagements.
The committee submitted on both the Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill and the proposed Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill, and delivered detailed feedback to the Immigration & Protection Tribunal on Practice Note 6/2025 (Remote Hearings). The tribunal chair issued a formal acknowledgment incorporating the committee’s recommendations.
The committee also strengthened engagement with Immigration New Zealand. In August, the committee received a letter from Immigration New Zealand recognising its professionalism, contribution to improvements in Refugee Status Unit (RSU) processes and the vital role lawyers play in maintaining the integrity of the refugee and protection system.
This formal acknowledgement marked an important development in TLANZ’s relationship with INZ.
The committee also maintained an active presence in INZ Operations, Immigration Reference Group (IRG) and RSU working groups, monitoring visa-processing volumes, systemic challenges and emerging policy settings.
Immigration expertise informed TLANZ’s Legal Aid Review submission, while sector engagement was further strengthened through the annual Immigration Dinner with Minister Erica Stanford, facilitating frank discussion on policy direction, sector challenges and enforcement trends. Preparatory work also advanced for a joint Immigration–Family Law Forum, to be held in March 2026, addressing the increasingly complex intersection of these sectors of the law.
Parole and Prisoner Rights Committee
The Parole & Prisoner Rights Committee continued its strong advocacy for principled, rights-aligned criminal-justice reform.
Its submission on the Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill warned that imposing prescriptive sentencing rules risks undermining judicial discretion, weakening the common-law framework and compromising proportionality and individualised justice.
The committee provided extensive analysis for TLANZ’s submission on the Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill, highlighting the well-established link between childhood trauma and later offending, the inequity of excluding survivors with serious convictions and the importance of trauma-informed and culturally appropriate redress pathways.
The committee also supported TLANZ as intervener in Grinder v Attorney-General, advancing arguments based on NZBORA-consistent interpretation of the Parole Act, the proportionality of special release conditions and the need for reintegration-focused oversight. The Supreme Court’s judgment directly reflected several committee principles.
The committee also had regular engagement with the Department of Corrections, including work on rehabilitation access, kaupapa Māori reintegration models, communication challenges and systemic delays in forensic psychiatric reporting. The committee further contributed to the Legal Aid Review, addressing barriers for lawyers working within parole.
Property Disputes Committee
The Property Disputes Committee completed a major update of the TLANZ Property Disputes Rulings Manual, strengthening its structure, readability and commentary while modernising case summaries to ensure alignment with contemporary legal standards.
A significant ruling issued this year clarified the interpretation of cross-lease easement obligations and provided guidance on how historic documents should be read where the parties’ shared understanding is evident. This ruling will appear in the forthcoming 2026 edition of the manual.
In delivering an authoritative and cost-effective dispute-resolution forum, the committee continues to underpin reliable and practical guidance for practitioners nationwide.
Technology & Law Committee
The Technology & Law Committee delivered one of its most wide-ranging programs to date.
It made detailed submissions on the draft Biometrics Code, advocating for explicit proportionality benchmarks, strict controls on data repurposing and independent oversight for high-risk biometric uses. It also provided submissions on sector-specific guidance, including facial-recognition technology in retail settings, and contributed further commentary on embedding IPP3A into Codes of Practice.
The committee played a central role in the national dialogue on AI governance, supporting a widely endorsed open letter by Regulate AI NZ and working alongside academic experts to promote a human-rights-centred regulatory approach.
Its cross-committee work focused on digital authentication, privacy safeguards, auditability and ensuring accessible digital justice pathways for self-represented litigants.
A major contribution this year was the committee’s Open Letter to Parliament on Cyber Breach Liability, which addressed systemic risks arising from dependence on major cloud providers, the imbalance created by non-negotiable liability exclusions and the need for strengthened transparency and contracting standards.
Committee members were active in LawNews articles, national conferences and the media, contributing thought leadership on AI, cybersecurity, digital identity and technology-enabled justice reform.
NextGen Lawyers Committee
The NextGen Lawyers Committee significantly expanded its national footprint in 2025, delivering a suite of training and professional-development initiatives tailored to early-career practitioners.
Signature events included the How to be a Good Junior Solicitor, Legal Success 101: Practical Tips for Career Growth, and the Inside the In-House Experience panels in Auckland and Wellington.
The committee also contributed a junior-practitioner perspective to TLANZ Treaty Principles submissions and the Etiquette Guidelines for Counsel, ensuring enhanced accessibility and clarity.
Work progressed on the NextGen Lawyers Hub, which will serve as a centralised repository of practical skills guidance, wellbeing resources, ethics tools and career-development content. Strengthened partnerships with student organisations and universities further deepened the pipeline from law school to professional practice.
Read Part one of the TLANZ end-of-year 2025 committee update here.
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