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Book Review: Dispute Settlement in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
No full textThis article is a book review of Natalie Klein Dispute Settlement in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005) (418 pages). The law of the sea has been one of the most dynamic and disputed areas of international law for most of the past several centuries. The fact that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea contains a dispute settlement provision that involves compulsory adjudication was a move away from the contentious past characterised by unilateral action. Mossop states that Klein has written a technically excellent text outlining the history and development of the dispute procedures, the requirement of each part of the process, and the extent to which the cases heard under the dispute procedures have cast light on the operation of the procedures. Although the book will be of significant value to practitioners and scholars dealing with this area of the law, Mossop argues that the detailed examination of the topic means that the book will not be suitable as a student textbook. It is concluded that the book is a solid foundation against which later cases can be compared. 
Gene Editing in Aotearoa – Legal Considerations for Policy Makers
Get PDFGene editing use in pest control, primary industries and human health care pose significant new challenges for regulation. Under current New Zealand legislation (the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996) and a judicial ruling on interpretation of the legislation and regulations, the status of gene edited organisms in New Zealand are considered genetically modified and are regulated as new organisms employing a precautionary approach. This article has identified some of the complexities of the legislation inherent in regulating a rapidly developing technology, where such advances may be well ahead of current frameworks and public acceptance. Legal and policy issues have been considered. A future-proof framework to keep abreast rapidly advancing biotechnologies is required whereby new legislation for biotechnologies is developed and a single-entry point for biotechnology applications is implemented. Most importantly this article recommends valuing Treaty of Waitangi principles and have those principles lead us in all that we do. 
The Universal Basic Income: should it replace the existing social security system?
Get PDFA universal basic income (UBI) would provide all citizens with a guaranteed income, irrespective of their earnings, age or household status. It would be financed from a flat-rate personal income tax. It would replace the existing work-based social security system with its plethora of benefit types, abatement rates and eligibility rules. However, when the trade-offs between the competing objectives of a tax/benefit scheme are considered, and the variety of individual and family circumstances that need to be addressed, the apparent simplicity of a UBI quickly disappears. The article shows that while the current tax/benefit system represents a ‘welfare mess’, and needs substantial restructuring, a UBI does not necessarily provide an adequate income for poverty relief, nor ensure labour force incentives, at an acceptable fiscal cost
New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework: what might Amartya Sen say?
No full textAmartya Sen’s capability approach is a guiding light for international efforts to improve the measurement of national well-being. This article compares Sen’s nuanced philosophical ideal with the New Zealand Treasury’s Living Standards Framework, which identifies the capability approach as one of various influences. However, the idea of the capability – that is, people’s freedoms to lead the kind of lives they have reason to value – remains an interpretive possibility, rather than a design feature. To give the capability its due importance, policymakers will need to utilise this idea when making sense of the Dashboard’s indicators and instilling policy relevance
50 years on from the Woodhouse Report: workers’ health in New Zealand’s ACC scheme
No full textIt has been 50 years since the Woodhouse Report was published, resulting in the creation of the first ACC scheme for New Zealand. Work and the working environment have changed a great deal in this time, as have scientific understandings of the relationship between work and health. The Accident Compensation Act 2001, as it stands, is struggling to provide fair and equitable compensation to New Zealand workers, with significant gaps in cover, inequalities in the treatment of different occupations and a detrimental flow-on effect for worker health and safety. This article outlines some of the key areas of legal reform required to ensure that the ACC scheme can meet the needs of New Zealand working people in the future and help improve work health and safety
Riots, Strikes, and Radical Politics in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThe riot is positioned by some contemporary Left theorists and activists as the harbinger of a future emancipatory politics. This view has emerged in a period of political transition in which traditional modes of Left organisation are routinely dismissed as ineffective. This paper examines the history of the riot in Aotearoa New Zealand, seeking to understand what role, if any, the riot might play in this country’s future.
 
Congratulations
Get PDFhe primary objective of Science Review is to inform and stimulate. This thematic issue entitled ‘Mātaurangaand Science’ is no exception. The New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS) is delighted with it and congratulates the many authors involved and especially our distinguished Guest Editors, Ocean Mercier and Anne-Marie Jackson.
Why now and why this topic? This year, 2019, is significant in terms of Māori culture: it is the 250th anniversary of the momentous sudden ‘arrival’ of a European ship in Aotearoa. Unbeknownst to Māori, the man in charge had instructions from his ‘chief’, King George III, to search for a putative continent. Hence, he spent some time in Aotearoa, trying to determine its geographic extent. Was this ‘new land’ a continent, or just an island? Notwithstanding the pivotal role Tupaia¹ played in the voyage, on board were James Cook and a group of men and boys, not a single woman, and they came from a completely different culture.
Most significantly, they were not Māori, and yet they were people. The rest is history, you might say. However, over the past 50 years, since the 200th anniversary of Cook’s arrival, there has been a considerable revival of Māori culture within New Zealand and along with it a huge interest in mātauranga, as is clear from the contributions herein.
Science, in its broadest sense, is the exploration of ideas; it comprises ideas that have been explored and dis-carded, and ideas that have yet to be refuted. Fundamental to science is evidence and repeatability of results. In so-called Western science this requires documentation and publication; it is part of an established written record. Mātauranga is/was different: it is part of an oral tradition.
However, within the past 50 years there has been a sea-change: mātauranga has been documented and committed to written publication, primarily with the advent of legal instruments within the Ministry of Justice, namely the Waitangi Tribunal and the Office of Treaty Settlements. As such, a huge body of Māori knowledge has been captured for posterity.
This special issue is a tribute to where we, in New Zealand, have got to thus far in this endeavour. What has been accomplished is truly remarkable, and NZAS predicts that it is only a matter of time before mātauranga will be ‘mainstream’ across all New Zealand education providers as part of our unique New Zealand culture.
Hamish Campbell and Allen Petrey for NZAS Counci
The 2019 World Science Forum, 20–23 November in Budapest, Hungary
Get PDFThe 2019 World Science Forum, which takes place in Budapest, Hungary, between the 20 and 23 of November, will provide an opportunity for the considerations of scientists, policy-makers, society, industry and science communicators to be challenged from an ethical standpoint in the plenary sessions, and will also allow for more technical debates over issues of science in thematic sessions.
The first UNESCO World Conference on Science was held in 1999 in Budapest. Since 2003 the Forum has played a prominent role in bringing leaders of the world of science and policy together. The biennial Forum aims to discuss the roles, responsibilities and challenges of science and present issues of common interest to the scientific community and the general public.
Partner organisations of the World Science Forum are the: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); International Science Council (ISC); American Association for the Advancement of Science; the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP); World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC); and Hungarian Academy of Sciences as the initiator of the host of the 2019 Forum
An Open Letter of Support from the NZ Association of Scientists to science colleagues and their families affected by the Christchurch mosques terror attack
Get PDFAs-Salaam-AlaikumKia tau te RangimarieMay Peace Be Upon YouKia ora e hoa mā,Like the rest of the country, the New Zealand Association of Scientists is devastated by the Christchurch mosques terror attack. At this time, we want to wrap our Muslim whānau – our colleagues and their families working or studying in science, social science, and the humanities – with aroha.As many of us moved from joyously engaging with direct action promoting climate justice, led by our rangitahi (youth), on the morning of Friday 15 March, to despair as a racist, anti-Islamic act of evil was committed, the best and worst of how people can be was brought into high relief. Our thoughts and support are offered to those who are affected and those who grieve with them.
The relationship between science and religion is often considered to be complex. However, what remains absolutely clear at this time is that all people have a right to their beliefs and to carry them out as part of their community – of our community. On the 15th of March a sector of our community, our whānau, was attacked because of these beliefs. They receive our compassion, support, and understanding.
The science community is an international one – filled with people from all backgrounds. In many cases these people, our science whānau, have travelled great distances with a view to improving the lives of themselves and their families. In doing so, they contribute to science and the science community in any number of ways. The New Zealand Association of Scientists commits, once again, to supporting the aspirations and careers of all scientists in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to speaking up on the issues which clearly affect them.
As an Association, we have a statement of purpose around exposing pseudo-science, debating and influencing government science policy, and improving working conditions for scientists, including gender and ethnic equality. The extent to which these have directly addressed the issues of anti-Islamic sentiments and the so-called ‘Alt-Right’ is now revealed as inadequate – though they attest to our commitment to speak the truth and expose lies. In the coming weeks and months, we will work with colleagues throughout research and academia in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly Muslim researchers, to develop resources on and protocols for dealing with the many issues this horrendous terrorist attack raises.Ngā mihiKate Hannah and Craig Stevens on behalf of the NZAS President and Counci
Karl Popper’s The Open Society and its Enemies, and its Enemies
Get PDFAccording to Michael King, Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies may be “the most influential book ever to come out of New Zealand.” Written in Christchurch in the last years of the Second World War by a Jewish intellectual in exile from Vienna, the book’s forthright attack on Plato created a storm of controversy worldwide, and continues to be influential today. In this piece, I want to reintroduce Popper to the current generation of New Zealanders. I look at how the book came to be written in New Zealand, and what Popper thought of the country. I also examine the controversy surrounding the book, and see what we might say about it today, especially in light of subsequent scholarship.
 
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