Andrew Geddis 
The New Zealand First leader is promising two referendums if his party is in government. One is daft and the other is daft and dangerous, writes Andrew Geddis If we believe Winston Peters’ speech to the New Zealand First party conference – admittedly a pretty risky thing to do, given past precedent – any future Government … Read more
The story of Todd Barclay’s behaviour towards his electorate staff has become a lot more interesting, as new details about efforts to cover it up emerge. A crucial question, writes law professor Andrew Geddis, surrounds claims of pressure put on his former electorate agent to withdraw her complaint Newsroom’s truly exceptional piece of investigative journalism into the … Read more
Colin Craig says he has filed defamation proceedings against his former secretary Rachel MacGregor, just one of at least five cases the former the Conservative Party leader currently has before the courts. Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis looks at whether Craig’s seemingly never-ending legal actions can be stopped. One of the earliest publicly screened … Read more
It seemed Donald Trump had killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but it has sprung back to life with Bill English’s visit to Japan. His confidence that the NZ parliament has already approved a TPP11 is misplaced, however, writes Andrew Geddis. As everybody should very well understand, the primary rule for surviving a horror movie is: “When it appears … Read more
Lawyer Andrew Geddis looks into what should happen if associate housing minister Alfred Ngaro were ever to actually do what he threatened over the weekend. Given the speeches at the National Party’s Auckland regional conference, New Zealand’s housing situation/challenge/imbroglio/anything-but-a-crisis appears to be the number one problem on the Government’s radar this election year. That’s probably not so surprising. Stories … Read more
Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson’s new book presents compelling evidence that our SAS was responsible for killing at least six Afghan civilians, wounding at least another 15, and handing over a man to be tortured for information. The appearance that we have been systemically lied to about what our soldiers do in our name is … Read more
The shocking true story of a law professor, a student radio station and a pro-cannabis political party conspiring to introduce US-style negative election campaigning to the nation’s airwaves, all with the help of the NZ Court of Appeal. As regular readers of The Spinoff may be aware, 2017 is an election year in New Zealand. … Read more
Faced with an absurdly rigid obligation to issue a prison sentence for a relatively minor offence, Justice Toogood deployed every drop of discretion available, writes Andrew Geddis New Zealand has had a “three strikes” sentencing regime in place for some six years now. At the time of its introduction, it was sold as a measure to … Read more
The $925,000 government payout is intended to close a long and messy chapter in the David Bain whodunnit, though it will only reiginte the eager Bainologists. Law professor Andrew Geddis explains how we ended up here. In a perhaps vain attempt to replicate Kang’s (in the guise of Bob Dole) solution to another intractable issue … Read more
Kamal Reddy is going to jail following the successful use of the controversial ‘Crime Scenario Undercover Technique’. What does our highest court have to say about its use? Sorry, you’re not allowed to know that yet, writes Andrew Geddis Kamal Reddy is an undeniably bad man. Last month a jury decided that, back in late … Read more
Teina Pora has been given the thing he said he wanted most – a formal apology for the 22 years he wrongly spent behind bars as an innocent man. He also has been offered $2.5 million in compensation. Applying the Cabinet’s own principles, it ought to be a minimum of $4.5 million, writes professor of … Read more
Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis examines whether the NZ First leader could really become prime minister, with the help of political nerds’ favourite TV show Could life be about to imitate art, with Winston Peters reprising the lead role in what should be every true political nerd’s favourite television series? No, I’m not suggesting Winston … Read more
David Seymour has thrown his member’s bill into the parliamentary hat. But the legislation currently being debated in Canada differs in some important ways, writes Andrew Geddis. The case of Lecretia Seales last year brought to prominence the issue of doctor assisted suicide/aid in dying (it’s a telling sign of how divided views are that … Read more