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Published: 11 October 2010
Pages: 102

A foreword from the Attorney-General

Limitation is a major issue for lawyers and their clients. That the law in this area should be clear goes without saying.  As a lawyer involved in civil litigation this area of the law soon attracted my attention.  In 1998 Peter McKenzie QC and I were asked to conduct a New Zealand Law Society seminar on time and limitation and at that time expressed the hope that early legislation would be introduced to bring much needed reform.  Nothing happened.

After my entry into Parliament as an opposition MP in 2005 I decided to push for action and began work on a private member’s bill on limitation.  I soon recognised that the law of limitation raised so many complex policy issues that I referred my work to Sir Geoffrey Palmer at the Law Commission.  He brought his usual energy to the subject and commissioned a paper from Chris Corry who had made a major contribution to the subject in the Laws of New Zealand volume on Limitation in Civil Proceedings.  Chris Corry gave impetus to reform with his 2007 paper (NZLC MP 16) and a bill took shape.

When I became Attorney-General following the 2008 election I had the opportunity to see that this matter had priority and it has given me great satisfaction to introduce the Limitation Bill into the House of Representatives and to see it passed.  It is unacceptable that law reform on this significant area of the law should have taken over 23 years to achieve.

Hon Chris Finlayson, Attorney-General