Stephen Franks 100 connections

Defamation phobia – go for the cause, not the symptoms

Mediawatch on Radio New Zealand this morning gave good coverage (and acknowledgments) to Cactus Kate’s expose of the ABN stable’s unwillingness to budget for defamation defence.
But they are all still appealing to the ideals of noble journalism and the altruism of media owners to defend the role... more »

ETS and does Mootral work?

With the Minister of Agriculture off overseas to talk emissions I’m reminded to ask if there’s been any published discussion in New Zealand of Mootral?
A company with an inadequate website claims to be able to cut cow methane emissions by as much as 90% using a garlic extract or... more »

Victim impact statements

Justice Minister Simon Power responded instantly and sensibly to the launch of the SST campaign to allow victims to give the Court their views on sentencing.
More sensibly than the new President of the Law Society. The latter could have said something like "I commend the quick response of the... more »

MSM, Murdoch and the “freedom” of the internet

My firm has subscribed to NBR’ twice daily internet bulletins. We are very satisfied, though irked by one feature – not being able to email effective links to the stories that are reserved for  "subscribers only".
Is that irritation fair? Is it only because we have got used to... more »

Long time no see

Apologies to people who’ve complained of clicking  fruitlessly through to  this blog for the past several weeks. It has had nothing new.
My law firm is going too well. Concerned when we started that we might not have enough to do, we accepted all work offered. The consequence has been unplanned... more »

Why apply for suppression?

I have no idea who’s been charged nor any inside information about the case, but I wonder if the accused has really thought through his name suppression application in the case headlined "Senior public servant on assault charges".
"Prosecuting lawyer Paul Dacre told the court the... more »