Hon Mark Burton
Minister Responsible for the Law Commission

11 September 2006 Media Statement
New Appointment to Law Commission

Minister Responsible for the Law Commission Mark Burton announced today that Professor John Burrows QC had been appointed as a Commissioner of the Law Commission.

"John Burrows has many years experience in academic law and is well respected for his research, his teaching and his expertise, particularly in the areas of media law, the law of contract and statute law," Mark Burton said.

"The appointment of people of the calibre of John Burrows will continue to ensure that the Law Commission is able to carry out its statutory functions effectively and contribute to the ongoing development of New Zealand's legal framework."

John Burrows has lectured at the University of Canterbury since 1967 and has been a Professor of Law since 1974. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1992-1998 and Deputy Vice Chancellor for 1999-2000.

On 20 July 2005 he was appointed Queen's Counsel by the Attorney General. He is the author of a number of publications and articles and is a contributing editor to the New Zealand Law Review.

He graduated from the University of Canterbury with a LLM. As a Commonwealth Scholar, he went on to complete a PhD at the London School of Economics.

The principal statutory functions of the Law Commission are:

- To take and keep under review in a systematic way the law of New Zealand;

- To make recommendations for the reform and development of the law of New Zealand;

- To advise on the review of any aspect of the law of New Zealand conducted by any Government department or organisation and on proposals made as a result of any review;

- To advise the Minister of Justice and the responsible Minister on ways in which the law of New Zealand can be made as understandable and accessible as is practicable.

"The work of the Law Commission played an important part in the recently announced Effective Interventions package of initiatives aimed at both reducing criminal offending and addressing New Zealand's growing prison population," Mark Burton said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media