Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is reviewing the law relating to adult decision-making capacity. We are consulting on our Second Issues Paper. Submissions are due by 17 December 2023.
There are many things that can affect a person’s decision-making. These can include dementia, acquired brain injuries, learning disabilities and experiences of mental distress. We call this having ‘affected decision-making’.
If an adult’s decision-making is affected, the law may treat their decisions differently. This is based on a concept of ‘decision-making capacity’. If a person is assessed not to have ‘decision-making capacity’, their decision might not have legal effect. Another person might be appointed to make the decision for them.
Many people think the law in this area needs to be reviewed to make sure it works well for people with affected decision-making and for those around them.
The Minister of Justice has asked Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission to carry out a review and make recommendations to improve the law.
The full scope of the review is in our Terms of Reference.
We published a Preliminary Issues Paper in November 2022. This asked about people’s experiences with the current law. The feedback we received on the Preliminary Issues Paper helped us develop our Second Issues Paper.
You don’t need to read the Preliminary Issues Paper before you read or give feedback on our Second Issues Paper.
This video provides an introduction to the Law Commission, this review and our current consultation. It also explains how you can have your say.
Blind Citizens NZ is coordinating the availability of Large Print, Braille and Audio copies of the Summary. You can contact Blind Citizens NZ directly via email: admin@abcnz.org.nz, phone: 04-389-0033 or freephone: 0800-222-694
Each webinar provided a short overview of this review and the consultation, answered some common questions, and provided information about how you can have your say.
We had simultaneous New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) interpreting during the webinars.
Because we had limited time during the webinars, we may not have had a chance to answer everybody’s questions. If you have a question that hasn’t been answered in the webinars, please feel free to send us an email at huarahi.whakatau@lawcom.govt.nz.
Our role is to make recommendations about law reform. We are unable to answer questions about personal circumstances or give legal advice.
If you need legal advice you can contact your local Community Law Centre, or your local Citizens Advice Bureau, or use the Law Society’s online Find a Lawyer service.
Recordings of both webinars are available now at the links below.
We held our first webinar on 7 December 2022. Watch a recording of the first webinar here.
We held our second webinar on 20 January 2023. Watch a recording of the second webinar here.
Please note that the content of these two webinars is largely the same. The only significant difference is in the questions responded to at the end of the webinars. The questions start at 24:00 of the December webinar, and 25:25 of the January webinar.
The online submission form contains all the questions from the Preliminary Issues Paper along with relevant information from the Summary.
Submissions are due by 5pm on 3 March 2023.
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is an independent state agency that provides law reform advice to the Government.
Our independence makes us different from many state sector agencies. The Government does not direct how we carry out our work or the recommendations we make.
We approach each law reform task with an open mind, undertake research and engagement, and consider the broader policy context. We then make recommendations to Government to improve the law. These recommendations are published in a report to the Minister of Justice.
The Minister must present our report to Parliament. The Government decides whether and how it will change the law.
There has been increased recognition of the human rights of disabled people and a shift towards supporting people to make their own decisions.
There has also been increased recognition that the law in this area does not adequately take into account te Tiriti o Waitangi, te ao Māori or the multi-cultural nature of Aotearoa New Zealand. As well, our population is changing. Aotearoa New Zealand has an increasingly aging and culturally diverse population.
In light of these developments, the Minister of Justice has asked Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission to carry out a review and make recommendations to improve the law.
The scope of Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission’s review is set out in our Terms of Reference.
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission launched this review with the publication of its Terms of Reference in October 2021.
We published our [Preliminary Issues Paper] in November 2022. This paper provided high-level information about current law and practice, and asked questions about people’s experiences and views on key issues. Consultation on this paper closed on 3 March 2023.
We are now consulting on our Second Issues Paper. This paper looks at the current law in much more detail and proposes options for reform. Consultation on this paper closes on 17 December 2023. You can make a submission [online or though one of our other submission options].
After our second round of consultation, we will prepare our final report. This will recommend to the Government how the law should be reformed in this area. We intend to provide our final report to the Minister of Justice by 30 June 2024.
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is committed to consulting the public in our review.
We published our Preliminary Issues Paper in November 2022. Consultation on this paper closed on 3 March 2023.
We would like to hear from you in our current consultation. You can make a submission [online or though one of our other submission options].
You can also subscribe to receive updates on this review.
Information given to Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is subject to the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 2020.
For more information about the Ombudsman and the Official Information Act, please visit the Ombudsman’s website. For more information about the Privacy Act, please visit the Privacy Commissioner’s website.
If you send us a submission, we will consider it in our review and keep it as part of our official records. We may publish the submission on our website, refer to it in our publications and use it to inform our work in other reviews.
Your submission may contain personal information. You have the right to access and correct your personal information at any time.
You can request that we do not publish your name or any other identifying information in your submission. If you request this, we will not publish your name or any other information that we think might identify you or others on our website or in our publications.
However, if you made a submission on behalf of an organisation, we will publish the name of that organisation.
If we receive a request under the Official Information Act that includes your submission, we must consider releasing it. If the request includes your personal information, we will consult with you.
If you have questions about the way we manage your submission, you are welcome to contact the Law Commission’s General Manager.
If you or someone you support would like to make a submission, but none of the options given are accessible to you, please [get in touch with us].
If you are finding it difficult in other ways to make a submission, we encourage you to seek support to understand what it means to make a submission, how to make your submission, and to understand how your information will be used.
If you are worried about your safety, or the safety of someone you are supporting, you can seek help from [link to a support directory]. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111 and ask for the police.
If you have any questions, need assistance or wish to raise an accessibility issue, please contact us:
What happens to your contact details? Please read the Law Commission’s Privacy and Transparency Statement.