AMINZ was delighted to host Construction Day on Tuesday 13 September - bringing together constriction practitioners from across New Zealand to celebrate the milestone of two decades of the CCA in New Zealand. Keynote speaker John Walton shares his keynote address with the wider AMINZ audience. Read it here.

The long-awaited AMINZ awards dinner has come and gone. The evening was an opportunity for the wider ADR community to catch up, connect and celebrate. We reflect on the event and highlight again those who were recognised with an award on the night.

Snippets from August’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

Snippets from July’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

Knowing that as an FDR practitioner you have a platform to bring a particular issue, discussion point, or scenario you’ve been grappling with to a group of like-minded individuals for discussion can make the world of difference in your practice.

So, what exactly are these meetings? We spoke with facilitator and AMINZ Fellow Rosemarie Brown to find out…

Snippets from June’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

Snippets from May’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

Snippets from April’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

Snippets from March’s Kōrero - our monthly industry news and insights update.

The pandemic has cast a dark shadow over the world, and brought to light a number of critical issues society, as a whole, needs to address. Growing inequality, underfunded health services, disinformation, division and doubt are on the rise.

In his book, The Power of Wellbeing, Clive poses the question: how do we regulate the relationship between the individual and wider society, and our obligations to each other?

Read this paper from MinterEllisonRuddWatts’ Janine Stewart and Kate Muldrew on the impact New Zealand’s leaky building saga has had on common law and director’s liabilities. The paper also explore how ADR can be used further in this area.

September 13 - 19 2021 marks Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week. We are acutely aware of the important role te reo plays within the work that we do as an Institute, and as the home of dispute resolution professional across Aotearoa.

August’s conference was a turning point for the Institute. Across three fantastic days, members and non-members, seasoned professionals and up-and-comers gathered together under one roof to learn, engage and kōrero.

I distinctly remember situations where my passion for people became evident in prior Employment Relations roles I held in the 90s and early 2000s. These roles were primarily in human resource management and employment relations consultancy. A love for the human spirit no matter what their backstory was led me to a discipline where I could help both workers and bosses, particularly around working relationships.

As a Human Resources Manager, I experienced dispute resolution med/arb pre-2000 under the Employment Contracts Act 1991, then latterly mediation provided by the Department of Labour under the Employment Relations Act 2000. During my time as an employment relations consultant, I attended employment mediations as a representative on a very regular basis.

A distinct feature of domestic arbitration in New Zealand is the ability to appeal an arbitral award on a question of law (Clause 5, Schedule 2 to the Arbitration Act).

In 2012, Amokura Kawharu wrote an important article analysing the success (or otherwise) of appeals on questions of law in the High Court between 1 January 2000 and June 2011.

Professor Kawharu found that of the 55 applications for leave to appeal on a question of law filed during that period, around one third were successful. Not all successful applications for leave resulted in an appeal being filed, which implies that some cases may have been settled after application for leave was successful. Of those that did proceed to a hearing on the merits (12 cases), six appeals were successful. Over the same period, there were 13 appeals on questions of law by agreement (i.e., no leave required). Three of these appeals were successful – making nine successful appeals in total.