NZCCL / VUW Law essay prize winner announced!
We are delighted to announce that the winner of the NZ Council for Civil Liberties essay prize for 2024 is Emily McKechnie with her essay Overcrowded and Understaffed: How Aotearoa’s international human rights obligations are struggling to prevent ill-treatmernt of the growing remand population.
Emily’s well-researched essay clearly lays out how remand works and is monitored in New Zealand, then shows how international treaties and monitoring aren’t enough when there isn’t the resources or will to improve the problems found. Protecting our civil liberties is about more than just policy. – Thomas Beagle, NZCCL Chair
While all of the contenders were of high quality, there was also another essay that impressed us so much that we awarded a one-off special prize to India Bulman for her essay Kia Tangi Tonu Tātou: The Call for Constitutional Transformation in Aotearoa.
A fascinating and well-researched essay from which I learnt that s71 of the Constitution Act of 1852 allowed for the creation of Maori legal districts where Maori law would prevail, although no such districts were established until the law was repealed in 1986. The paper gives us an intriguing view of another possible Aotearoa New Zealand, one where perhaps two peoples did a better job of sharing both the land and the authority over it. – Thomas Beagle, NZCCL Chair
The competition is open to students at the Faculty of Law within Victoria University.
Abstracts
Read the abstract from Emily McKechnie’s Overcrowded and Understaffed:
Aotearoa has implemented an internationally renowned framework of monitoring bodies who inspect places of detention to prevent ill-treatment of those deprived of their liberty. These protections extend to prisoners on custodial remand. However, as numbers of remandees in New Zealand continue to rise, the conditions of remand detention deteriorate. This paper sets out Aotearoa’s monitoring framework. It explains that while these monitoring mechanisms are undeniably beneficial and New Zealand has made a strong commitment to their implementation, the growing remand population presents unique challenges. By examining the inspected conditions of remand detention, this paper will explore how Aotearoa is currently failing to prevent ill-treatment of remandees. By implementing a holistic approach to these challenges, New Zealand can improve conditions of remand detention, prevent ill-treatment and protect the human rights of some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
Read the abstract from India Bulman’s Kia Tangi Tonu Tātou: The Call for Constitutional Transformation in Aotearoa:
This paper argues that a historic and continuous call and response to constitutional transformation in Aotearoa New Zealand can be traced along the themes of s 71 of the Constitution Act 1852. Section 71 allowed the governor of New Zealand to set aside Māori Legal Districts where Māori law would prevail. This section introduced two themes into New Zealand’s constitutional discourse; the Māori right to self-governance within a distinct legal realm, and the state government’s refusal to recognise this Māori right of self-governance. Since 71’s enactment in 1852, both the Māori call for constitutional transformation that recognises the right to self-govern in a separate domain and the state government’s denial of this right have been an illustration of continuity characterised by the themes of s 71.
Beginning with a discussion on the history of s 71, this paper contends that the notion of Māori people being governed by Māori law within distinct Māori Legal Districts was endorsed in 1852 by imperial legislators in London. This paper then traces the themes of s 71 in early 19th century Māori movements like the Kīngitanga and Kotahitanga, as well as in later activism during the 1970s and 80s ‘Māori Renaissance’. In looking at the state government’s responses to this activism this paper addresses the repeal of s 71 in 1986, arguing the process followed made the repeal democratically illegitimate. Despite its repeal, this paper contends that the themes of s 71 are entrenched in Aotearoa’s constitutional discourse and continue to be reflected in current calls for constitutional transformation. By tracing a historic Māori call for constitutional transformation along the themes of s 71, it is argued that this call is characterised by continuity rather than change.