The Citation of Overseas Authority in Rights Litigation in New Zealand: How Much Bark? How Much Bite?

This paper is concerned with the common law-like system of rule making in regard to rights and freedoms under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. It is particularly concerned with citation by New Zealand Judges of the decisions of overseas judges interpreting and applying overseas bills of rights. It is found that overseas authority is not used in a principled or systematic way be New Zealand courts in interpreting the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. In light of this, the paper concludes that New Zealand courts should be more skeptical of overseas authority than they appear to be, and be prompted to ask pertinent questions around foreign authority when it comes to rights-based internationalism.