Strictly Obiter
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strictlyobiter.bsky.social
Strictly Obiter
@strictlyobiter.bsky.social
Going on a frolic of his own. Distinguished Fellow at the Robert Muldoon Centre for Constitutional Law.

Please send all complaints
c/- Rt Hon Dame Helen Winkelmann GNZM
Supreme Court of New Zealand
85 Lambton Quay
Wellington
When the Oravida person has the moral high ground it’s time to go.
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 AM
We did it! Well done, team!
November 10, 2025 at 7:54 AM
November 9, 2025 at 8:04 AM
If we need fight clubs at hospitals we’ll definitely circle back.
The outsourcing firm tells the Government it is uniquely positioned, and its services could be of great value
Prisons operator Serco eyes NZ's public health infrastructure needs
newsroom.co.nz
November 8, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I would read the hell out of a piece where a Crown prosecutor sits down with the leads from an Agatha Christie country house murder and tries to cobble together enough admissible evidence to prosecute the case in court.
November 8, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Monty Python's constitutional peasants but for the Law Society President.
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Strictly Obiter
I had to apply for permission to give evidence early in a trial because I was going on my honeymoon. He granted it (“Her honeymoon will be a seminal event in the life of Miss Franks”) but the defendant then fell over
November 6, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Brewer J to leave the High Court and go be the new Inspector-General of Defence. Such a loss to the High Court. His judgments light on footnotes, direct, assertive.

www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-...
www.beehive.govt.nz
November 5, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Judicial independence means the CJ can't ban you from posting judgments on Decisions of Public Interest.
November 4, 2025 at 4:24 AM
So the drag performer economic torts case against Brian Tamaki and Destiny Church supporters is going about as smoothly as you'd expect.

nzlii.org/cgi-bin/down...
November 3, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Unlike Andrew I *did* read it and now everything smells like pennies and burnt toast.
I don't have premium access and don't care enough to pay to read reckons like these, but if DC KC can explain why a CGT is "punishing thrift" while taxing the interest paid on a term deposit isn't then she's probably worth whatever hourly rate she charges.
November 2, 2025 at 12:25 AM
My long-held personal belief is legal writing peaked with Fred Rodell's Goodbye to Law Reviews, and it will never be surpassed (even though some legal writing has got better). That intro, though!

www.refsmmat.com/files/goodby...
October 30, 2025 at 1:51 AM
To the person who writes nasty messages to NZLII: fuck off.
October 30, 2025 at 1:39 AM
A perfect example of the public good that is @nzlii.bsky.social (and, to a lesser extent, social media)! We see a great resource that would be a perfect fit for NZLII, a small targeted donation to support the scanning, and now it's there for everyone to use.
October 29, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Groundless Kiwis.
Stent v Attorney-General [2025] NZHC 3185: a claim for breach of BORA and false imprisonment(!) by a holidaying couple "trapped" in Australia quarantine-free travel with was suspended during Delta outbreaks. Isac J assiduously footnoting all their holiday locations gives a hint of the outcome.
October 26, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Stent v Attorney-General [2025] NZHC 3185: a claim for breach of BORA and false imprisonment(!) by a holidaying couple "trapped" in Australia quarantine-free travel with was suspended during Delta outbreaks. Isac J assiduously footnoting all their holiday locations gives a hint of the outcome.
October 26, 2025 at 9:21 PM
If (hopefully not when) this happens in New Zealand I am going to lose my shit.
Federal Judges— or staff, but same-same— used "AI" to summarize & draft rulings, issued them w/o checking the work, leading to basic factual errors, & thus undermining the facticity & validity of the rulings entire.

Gee. Who Could Have Foreseen. *stares directly into the camera like in the office*
Two federal judges say use of AI led to errors in US court rulings
Two federal judges admitted in response to an inquiry by U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that members of their staff used artificial intelligence to help prepare recent court orders that Grassley called "error-ridden."
www.reuters.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:06 AM
What I want to know is how the Attorney-General gets any actual work done.
October 24, 2025 at 5:40 AM
@nzlii.bsky.social: could I donate a sum to have these scanned and uploaded? Precursor reports to what became the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
But here's the thing: I had to buy hard copies of both reports from Hard to Find. If they're digitised somewhere, I couldn't find them. I think they're actually important cultural documents. So who do I petition to get that done?
October 23, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Reposted by Strictly Obiter
Only in Dunedin do 20% of motorists have a chainsaw at hand when driving.
October 23, 2025 at 3:31 AM
“My much less talented husband spent two weeks in the regions and all he brought back was a near-mint copy of Rishworth et al that he found in a secondhand book shop, and which he’s excited to take to his chambers.”
October 19, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Personally I always had Judith Collins down as more of a "without prejudice save as to costs letter" person.
October 19, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Really struggling to keep up on where the discourse is re KCs signing open letters.
October 18, 2025 at 11:23 PM
MC rebrands as mc
October 17, 2025 at 10:56 PM