Andrew Geddis 
The judgment on whether David Scott, who is currently campaigning on the Kāpiti Coast, is fit for public office should lie with the voters, rather than the law-makers, writes Andrew Geddis. I hope it is safe to assume that virtually all of you reading this think that a man recently kicked off your local District … Read more
A mystery donation to National has people asking how secure our electoral system is from corrupt foreign actors. Law expert Andrew Geddis explains what’s at stake. Following some damn fine newspapering by Matt Nippert, a $150,000 donation given in 2017 to National from the Chinese billionaire owned “Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry (NZ) Ltd” is … Read more
The National leader says census data is so ropey we should halt the redrawing of electorate boundaries. Down that path lies a dangerous world of ‘alternative facts’, writes Andrew Geddis Let’s be clear – the 2018 census turned out to be a good, old-fashioned omnishambles. The just released report of an independent review into the … Read more
A new ruling on the ban on prisoner voting delivers a fierce reminder of the need for urgent change. Now it’s over to the government: put up or shut up, writes Andrew Geddis. In some ways, it tells us nothing we didn’t already know: the legislative ban on prisoners voting enacted in 2010 by National … Read more
The Court of Appeal has decided that China’s criminal justice system is so flawed that a murder suspect living in New Zealand should not be extradited there. That’s an extraordinary development in the already strained NZ-China relationship, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. I am fortunate enough to be a citizen of three countries – New … Read more
Andrew Geddis sifts through the constitutional implications of forthcoming vote on legalising cannabis, and offers a warning about the way the campaign is likely to unfold Today we sort-of found out what we are going to get to vote on at this election’s “reeferendum”. We are going to get to say whether we want to … Read more
Publicly telling the world a bunch of private visitors intend to cause prisoner revolts is a very good way of giving prison authorities “reasonable grounds” to deny you entry, writes Andrew Geddis For someone who says he simply wants his Destiny Church’s “Man Up/Tu Tanganta” programme (sorry, “lifestyle”) to help “restore men to their true … Read more
The Police have referred their investigation into $100,000 in donations to the National Party to the SFO. It’s plainly a very bad look but can we deduce much else, asks Andrew Geddis On its face, news that the Police have referred Jami-Lee Ross’ now-five-month old allegations about Simon Bridges, the National Party and $100,000 in … Read more
The National MP’s self-righteous defence for halting yesterday’s meeting ignored the essential role the Opposition plays in upholding the select committee process, writes Andrew Geddis. On Wednesday something happened in Parliament that was on its face a clever but petty political move designed to capture headlines, yet at a deeper level ought to concern anybody … Read more
Accusing parliament’s Speaker of behaving in a biased fashion undermines the necessary authority of the office, and even the comments by the Herald political editor likely could be punished as a contempt, if parliament wished to, writes Andrew Geddis for RNZ Wednesday’s flare-up in parliament, which saw the Speaker ordering both National’s leader and leader … Read more
New Zealanders could be getting votes on cannabis reform, MMP and assisted dying – but politicians have a bunch of questions to answer first, writes Andrew Geddis New Zealand’s recent experience with using referendums to make decisions has all been a bit odd, really. We had a rather pointless one in 2011 on whether to … Read more
Everyone’s a loser in Colin Craig’s defamation case against blogger Cameron Slater – but the only victim is Rachel MacGregor, the woman for whom this saga has become a living nightmare, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. The finally decided defamation proceedings in Craig v Slater must be the stuff of judicial nightmares. A complicated fact … Read more
Jami-Lee Ross’s ever-changing story about the $100,000 donation originating from businessman Zhang Yikun makes it hard to assess precisely what Police would be investigating. Either way, we’re all the poorer for the way it’s played out, writes writes law professor Andrew Geddis When Jami-Lee Ross re-enacted the Joker’s “everything burns” scene from The Dark Knight … Read more
Editor’s note: this post was removed pending an update to take in new information from Jami-Lee Ross’s latest press conference. New version is here.
A Jerusalem court has ruled that two New Zealand women should cough up almost $19,000 in damages after calling for Lorde to boycott Israel. The chances of that being enforceable, however, are extremely slim, explains Otago law professor Andrew Geddis An Israeli court has ordered that two New Zealanders, Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab should … Read more
If the Otago University proctor won’t respect students’ private property rights, students may have to take matters into their own hands, writes Otago law professor Andrew Geddis. Calling out members of your own institution for what you think is bad, indeed unlawful, behaviour is something of a fraught task. These are colleagues, after all, and … Read more
Unhappy with Newsroom’s coverage of him in recent weeks, scientist and philanthropist Sir Ray Avery has filed a complaint with NetSafe alleging that its stories contain false allegations that have caused him emotional harm. Andrew Geddis explains why Netsafe’s decision will be a landmark one. Since launching last year, Newsroom has shown a willingness to stay on a … Read more
If you think there’s an easy answer on the whole Lauren Southern/Stefan Molyneux saga, law professor Andrew Geddis reckons you probably haven’t thought about it hard enough. Up until about a week ago, I and most of New Zealand hadn’t the faintest clue who Lauren Southern or Stefan Molyneux were. Having better things to do … Read more
The NZ Police have apologised to journalist Nicky Hager over their tactics in seeking to identify Rawshark following the publication of Dirty Politics. And it must never happen again, writes Otago law professor Andrew Geddis Readers able to remember events of more than a fortnight ago (or, events prior to Fortnite, for that matter) will … Read more
If the University of Otago is really committed to free speech, yesterday’s events suggest they’ve a funny way of showing it, writes Andrew Geddis, a law professor at the university. In late 2015, I sat in a public lecture on climate change where Otago University’s vice chancellor sternly reprimanded the audience for heckling a “climate … Read more
The NZ First minister is calling on Air NZ to reinstate regional routes that have been closed for commercial reasons – thereby demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of the national airline’s legal duties, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. Yesterday morning, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones went on RNZ’s Morning Report to double down on his … Read more
A High Court hearing was this week shut off to everyone, including media – something even the judge calls ‘anathema to the fundamental concepts of fairness’. Andrew Geddis explains what’s going on. Something quite strange is happening at the High Court in Wellington this week. Journalists doing their regular rounds of that place’s pathos, bathos, … Read more
Commentary: The two women who wrote an open letter on the Spinoff are being pursued under an Israeli law designed to prevent ‘damage to the state of Israel through boycott’. But is it a serious threat, and could it really impact people living in another country? Law professor Andrew Geddis writes. For “a small, publicly-funded, … Read more
A new Green MP is under fire over her past work as a legal intern in a team defending men accused of war crimes in Rwanda. Do the criticisms hold water, asks legal professor Andrew Geddis There’s a popular narrative around human rights. In this story, there is the good side and the bad side. … Read more
Andrew Geddis assesses the shape and viability of the new Jacinda Ardern led government. And sings the praises of two individuals, one from the Greens, the other National. So, very late yesterday afternoon (let’s be charitable) Winston Peters lifted the box’s lid and out wandered a cat with a black head, red body and green tail. Whereupon … Read more
Yesterday Massey University’s Claire Robinson argued against this being a change election with reference to prior results. Here the University of Otago’s Andrew Geddis suggests that these endless circular arguments are simply in the eye of the beholder. Have a look at this picture of Rubin’s vase and see what you see: is it two … Read more
The sight of a small party going to the courts to seek a place on a television debate has become a regular sight in our election campaigns. Andrew Geddis walks us through the debate about the debates. No Gareth, you shall not go to the debate tonight In what is becoming a somewhat predictable election … Read more
The High Court has agreed that the payout for the miscarriage of justice was insufficient. Law professor Andrew Geddis explains the basis for that decision When the government announced in June of 2016 that it would be giving Teina Pora some $2.5 million as compensation for wrongfully convicting him and so keeping an innocent man … Read more
The Green co-leader today ruled herself out of a future cabinet role after admissions about lying to Winz and in her voter registration details. But how bad, really, was the breach of electoral law, asks Andrew Geddis While I can’t go so far as to claim Metiria Turei as a full friend, she certainly is … Read more