From Courthouse to Publishing House: The Accessibility of Case Law in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper examines the accessibility of case law in New Zealand. First, it identifies the inherent attributes of case law that make accessibility harder to achieve, noting that the precedent-driven approach to lawmaking in the common law system means that case law is multitudinous and harder to interpret than legislation, and difficult to sort into distinct areas of law. Secondly, it explains why accessibility is, nevertheless, a valuable aspiration through the fundamental justifications of the rule of law, open justice and the healthy development of the law.

This paper then discusses some of the major contributors to and detractors from the accessibility of case law through the lens of the lifecycle of a judgment: from the way it is written, to the way it is disseminated, the impact of suppression orders on its dissemination, law reporting, and its discoverability in legal databases. It concludes that the accessibility of case law in New Zealand would be greatly enhanced if the judiciary assumed a greater role as a legal publisher rather than simply an author of judgments, including by investing in technological improvements to judgment dissemination.