Paul Rishworth

LLB(Hons), MJur

Contact details
Building 801, room 414
9 Eden Crescent
Auckland

Phone: +64 9 923 8031
Email: pt.rishworth@auckland.ac.nz

 

 

Profile

Paul Rishworth joined The University of Auckland Faculty of Law in 1987. His research interests are in the field of human rights and comparative constitutional law, and South Pacific legal studies. His work on the New Zealand Bill of Rights has been widely cited by peers, practitioners and judges. He has worked over the years as a consultant and advisor for government agencies and groups, including the Human Rights Commission, in New Zealand and overseas, on issues ranging from restrictions on hate speech to the autonomy of religious organisations to hire and ordain leaders.

Paul was the Faculty Dean and the Head of the Department of Law 2005-2010. He remains involved in the litigation of civil rights issues in the higher courts and in community organisations.

 

Key areas of interest

• Human Rights Law
• Public Law
• Freedom of expression and religion
• Law about education
• South Pacific Legal Studies

Teaching

2009

• LAW211 Public Law
• LAW452 Rights and Freedoms (civil rights law in New Zealand taught through comparative law approach)

Other courses previously taught

• Public Law
• International Human Rights Law
• Comparative Bill of Rights Law
• Comparative Human Rights Law
• Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
• Education Law
• South Pacific Legal Studies

Current Research

• The idea of a Pacific regional court
• The operation of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
• Religious expression in public affairs and education

Selected Publications

Books

• P Rishworth, G Huscroft, S Optican and R Mahoney, The New Zealand Bill of Rights Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2003, 852 + lii pp.
• G Huscroft and P Rishworth (eds), Litigating Rights: Perspectives from Domestic and International Law, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2002.
• P Rishworth (ed), The Struggle for Simplicity: Essays for Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Butterworths, 1997, 359 pp + xxxviii
• G Huscroft and P Rishworth (eds), Rights and Freedoms, Wellington: Brooker's, 1995
• Bill of Rights, chapter 10 in B Robertson (ed) Adams on Criminal Law from 1992 to 1996
• with John Hannan and Patrick Walsh), Education Law, NZLS Seminar, 2006, 134 pp.

Book Chapters (recent)

• "Taking Human Rights into the Private Sphere" in Oliver D and Fedtke, J, Human Rights and the Private Sphere: A comparative study, London: Cavendish, 312-350 (2007)
• "Human Rights and the Reconstruction of the Moral High Ground", in R. Bigwood (ed) Public Interest Litigation, LexisNexis, Wellington, 2006, 115-132
• "New Zealand" in C. Russo and J. DeGroof, The Educational Rights of Students, Rowman and Littlefield, 2006, 147-159
• "New Zealand" in C. Russo (ed), The Yearbook of Education Law, Ohio, Education Law Association 2005, p 319-336
• "Interpreting and Invalidating Enactments under a Bill of Rights; Three Inquiries in Comparative Perspective" in R Bigwood, ed, The Statute: Making and Meaning, Lexis-Nexis, 2003, pp 251-284
• "Human Rights" in Sir Ian Barker and G Wear (eds), Law Stories, Lexis Nexis, 2003, pp 179-200
• [New Zealand] in C Russo, ed, Yearbook of Education Law, Education Law Association, Dayton, Ohio: For 1999 to 2003
• "The Rule of International Law" in G. Huscroft and P. Rishworth (eds), Litigating Rights: Perspectives from Domestic and International Law, Hart Publishing Ltd, Oxford, 2002, pp 267-280
• "Liberty, Equality and the New Establishment" in G. Huscroft and P. Rishworth (eds), Litigating Rights: Perspectives from Domestic and International Law, Hart Publishing Ltd, Oxford, 2002, pp 91-100

Journals

• "Changing Times, Changing Minds, Changing Laws - Sexual Orientation and New Zealand Law, 1960 to 2005" (2007) Int’l Jnl of Human Rights 85-107
• "The Inevitability of Judicial Review under Interpretive Bills of Rights: Canada’s Legacy to New Zealand and Commonwealth Constitutionalism" in G Huscroft and I Brodie (eds), Constitutionalism in the Charter Era, LexisNexis: Canada, 2004, 233-268
• "Human Rights" [2005] NZ Law Review 87-117
• "Common Law Rights and Navigation Lights: Judicial Review and the New Zealand Bill of Rights" (2004) 15 Public LR 103-120
• Annual contributor to New Zealand Law Review on Human Rights Law [1996-2003]
• "The Treaty of Waitangi and Human Rights" [2003] NZ Law Rev 381-6
• "Judicial Review and the Interpretive Bill of Rights: Canada’s Legacy to New Zealand and Commonwealth Constitutionalism", forthcoming in Supreme Court Law Review (Canada).

Recent Activities

Selected invited Lectures, Seminars and Training

• ‘Religious Expression in New Zealand Public Life: "Freedom of" and "Freedom From"’, Legal Research Foundation Conference , Auckland [July 2007]
• "Religious Education in New Zealand", Human Rights Commission’s New Zealand Diversity Forum [August 2007]
• Upholding the Rule of Law and Facilitating the Administration of Justice’: the Law Society’s contribution to law reform", Australia-New Zealand Scrutiny of Legislation Conference [August 2007]
• "Parliamentary Privilege and Human Rights: South Pacific Perspectives", Fiji Law Society 50th Annual Convention [2006]
• "The New Zealand Bill of Rights and the Legislature: Praxis and Pitfalls", Conference in Legislative Protection of Human Rights, Melbourne [2006]
• "Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion in New Zealand", ANZELA Conference, Fremantle, Australia [2005]
• "Human Rights in Contemporary Common Law Constitutionalism", Pacific Islands Law Officers Meeting, Vanuatu [2005]
• "Human Rights Experience in New Zealand" to Law Librarians Conference in Sydney [2004]
• "Tribunals and the Right to Justice", paper presented at Legal Research Foundation Seminar [2003]
• "The Treaty of Waitangi and Human Rights", paper presented at Legal Research Foundation Seminar [2003]
• "The Code of Ethics as Sword, Shield and Guide" to New Zealand Teachers Council Summit on proposed Code of Ethics, Wellington [2003]
• G Huscroft, S Optican and P Rishworth, The Bill of Rights - Getting the Basics Right, New Zealand Law Society, Wellington [2002]

Submissions/Service

• Counsel in Living Word Distributors Ltd v Human Rights Action Group [2000] 2 NZLR 570 (CA) (censorship and religiously-motivated videos addressing homosexuality); in Re Baise Moi [2002] NZAR 884 (censorship and community standards); in Te Runanga o Wharekauri Rekohu v Attorney-General [1993] 2 NZR 301 (Treaty of Waitangi and Māori Fisheries Settlement); Sky City Ltd v Wu [2002] 3 NZLR 621 and Sky City Ltd v Jones [2004] 1 NZLR 192 (power of corporation to exclude persons from private property)
• Professional advice to lawyers and agencies (including Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Justice, Broadcasting Standards Authority, New Zealand Law Society, New Zealand Law Commission) on public law and human rights issues
• Legal Adviser to Governor of Pitcairn Islands

Membership

• New Zealand Council of Legal Education
• New Zealand Law Society Continuing Legal Education Committee
• Convener, Legislation Committee of New Zealand Law Society
• Fiji Board of Legal Education
• Legal Research Foundation
• Editorial Boards of New Zealand Law Review, Public Law Review, New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law, Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education
• Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand since 1978

Qualifications

1977 University of Auckland, LLB (Hons)
1986 University of Auckland, MJur

Selected Dissertation Supervision Topics

• Religious freedom in New Zealand
• Veiled threats? Islam, headscarves and religious freedom in America and France