1

LEGAL LOWDOWN

ISSUE

24

June 2015

COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES SOUTH TRUST

2 CONSUMER LAW Law Changes 3

COPYRIGHT LAW Stopping Piracy

LEGAL EDUCATION FOR THE DEAF

COMMUNITY

We are pleased to announce that Community Law has received

funding from the New Zealand Sign Language Fund to provide

legal education sessions using New Zealand Sign Language inter-

preters. We would like to acknowledge the efforts of Auckland

Disability Law and the CLCA National Body in securing this

funding.

The funding will allow our deaf communities to better access

justice and community law services, in general. In addition to

this, we are also able to provide legal education sessions in sev-

eral different languages including, Te Reo Maori, Tongan, Samo-

an, Punjabi and Hindi.

To book legal education sessions for deaf individuals or groups,

please contact us at admin@clsstlaw.com. Our Legal Education

topics can be found on our website: www.clsstlaw.com/legal-

education.html

5 MAORI LEGAL NEWS Legal Maori Resources 6 PACIFIC ISSUES

Pacific Access Category

LEGAL EDUCATION FOR THE DEAF Access to justice for the deaf community

From 1 July 2015, Auckland Council is set to introduce a new

policy requiring any unauthorised or unconsented building work

to have a Certificate of Assessment.

For clarity’s sake, unconsented building work includes decks or

additions to buildings where the appropriate Council consent

has not been granted prior to the building work commencing.

A document How unauthorised building work is as-

sessed provides information on how the Council deals with

unconsented decks or other additions.

The new policy will be introduced in 2 stages beginning with

Orewa, Henderson and Takapuna from 1 July 2015. The policy

will be implemented in Central Auckland, Manukau, Papakura

and Pukekohe from 1 August 2015.

UNAUTHORISED BUILDING WORK

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making it easier for consumers to compare rates and fees

before borrowing money.

Repossession agents will need to be licensed and there

are new rules prohibiting repossession of essential

household items such as beds and heaters. Another

change in the law will require credit card billing state-

ments to include a minimum repayment warning.

Penalties

The new laws provide harsh penalties for breaching the

lender responsibilities including:

Court’s powers to grant compensation or injunction; and

Court ‘s power to order persons not able to act as credi-

tors, lessors or transferees if the persons have failed

more than once, to comply with the lender responsibility

principles.

For more information of the consumer law changes,

please see:

Ministry of Consumer Affairs website or Commerce

Commission website.

Source: Commerce Commission

Changes to consumer credit laws, under the Credit Contracts

and Consumer Finance Amendment Act 2014 came into

force on 6 June 2015.

Key changes

One of the key changes under the new laws, is the introduction of

lender responsibility principles. The effect of these principles re-

quires lenders to make reasonable inquiries before entering into a

loan or taking a guarantee to be satisfied that the credit provided

will meet the borrower's needs. The lender must also be satisfied

that the borrower or guarantor will be able to make the payments

under the loan, or to comply with the guarantee, without suffering

substantial hardship.

Lenders will also be required to make information about their fees

and interest rates publicly available...

CONSUMER CREDIT LAWS HAVE CHANGED

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 2

KIWISAVER KICK-START REMOVED

The Government has announced that as part of Budget 2015,

the KiwiSaver $1,000 kick-start contribution will be removed.

This means that the kick-start will no longer be available for

members joining on or after 2pm, 21 May 2015.

Not sure if you are eligible for the kick-start?

If you joined via a scheme provider, your provider will advise

Inland Revenue Department (IRD) of your correct joining date.

If you joined via your employer, you will need to get written

confirmation of your joining date and send it to:

KiwiSaver kick-start payment

Inland Revenue

P O Box 761

Waikato Mail Centre

Hamilton 3420

Source: Inland Revenue Department

3

COPYRIGHT LAW PIRACY IN NEW ZEALAND

Copyright Act 1994

Copyright is a term used to describe the rights given to an

owner of original work, such as films, music and literature.

Copyright in New Zealand is automatic and therefore there

is no need to register any copyright rights in original works.

An owner of copyright has the following exclusive rights in

relation to their original works:

copy - reproduce, scan, record, download

and store

issue copies to the public – publish or

distribute

perform, play or show the work in

public

communicate their work to the public including radio

and television broadcasts and internet webcasts

adapt including translating the work from one language to

another

It is important to note that, if you are not a

copyright owner and you perform any of the

acts listed above, you could be liable for

breach of copyright (copyright infringement).

Copyright Term

Copyright in a sound recording or film ex-

pires 50 years after the end of the year in

which it was made. Copyright in computer software & liter-

ary work expires 50 years from the end of the calendar

year in which the last living author of the work, dies.

Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement can come in many forms. Here are

a few examples:

Burning a CD or DVD for public use or distribution without

the copyright owner’s consent (this includes sale of such

works at a local market or online—or privately)

Downloading illegal copies of music from an online….

source (like a file sharing website, for exam-

ple). We would recommend in these circum-

stances downloading music or videos from

reputable sources such as i-tunes.

Selling “knock-off” apparel, where a

well known clothing brand name or logo

has been used on clothing or apparel without the consent

of the copyright owner.

Copyright Enforcement

It is against the law to breach copyright in New Zealand.

The Copyright Tribunal can award a copyright owner up to

$15,000 for copyright breaches. Deci-

sions of the Copyright Tribunal are usual-

ly made on paper, without the need to

attend a hearing. However, the Tribunal

can still make a decision at a hearing, at

its discretion.

The District Court also has the power to

impose a fine of up to $150,000 or im-

prisonment for up to 5 years for criminal acts that arise out

of copyright breaches.

For more information on copyright please see the following

links:

Consumer.org.nz

Copyright Council of NZ

Intellectual Property Office

Source: consumer.org.nz / Copyright Council NZ / IPONZ

“it is against the law to

breach copyright in New

Zealand”

“the District Court has

the power to fin up to

$150,000”

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 3

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5

NGĀ TAKE MĀORI Issues affecting Māori communities

THE LEGAL MĀORI RESOURCE HUB

Mā te Kaupapa reo-a-ture e whakaora ana I ngā rauemi reo

Māori e hāngai ana ki te ao ture. Kua puta I a rātou tētahi pa-

pakupu reo Māori e kī ana ko te “He Papakupu Reo Ture” , a,

inaianei kua uru mai tēnei rauemi ki te ao hangarau, I naianei e

taea ana e te tangata te kimi I ngā kupu Māori o te ao ture, mā

te ipurangi. E te Kaupapa reo-a-ture, mei kore ake koutou!

The Legal Māori Resource Hub is an online tool that hosts

various legal Māori language resources. The resource hub is

the product of the Legal Māori Project which was launched

by Victoria University of Wellington and carried out by a

research team of lecturers, senior students and graduates

between 2008 and 2013.

In 2013, the Legal Māori Project published a dictionary of

legal Maori terms which were sourced from different texts.

The Legal Māori Resource Hub now makes these resources

easy to use and search, online.

The Following resources are available for access by users:

Legal Māori Corpus

The Legal Māori Corpus is the largest structured corpus of

Māori language texts. It is made up of eight million word

tokens taken from law-related texts that date between

1828 and 2009.

The corpus presents an extraordinary account of the Māori

language and how it has been used to describe, communi-

cate and engage with Western legal concepts over nearly

two centuries.

Corpus Browser

The Corpus Browser lets you make an in-depth and specific

search of the Legal Māori Corpus. The browser offers a vari-

ety of filters that you can use to tailor your search results to

your area of interest.

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com

A Dictionary of Māori terms.

This dictionary is the first of its kind. It is a comprehensive, if not

exhaustive, dictionary of Māori legal terms and how they relate to

Western legal concepts.

Customary Māori legal terms form the core of the dictionary, and

the influence and role of customary law in modern legal Māori

language is profiled in a way that has never been done in New

Zealand. It may also be unprecedented among other legal lexicog-

raphy projects for indigenous languages.

To access the Legal Māori Resource Hub, see the Legal

Māori Resource Hub website at www.legalmaori.net

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PASEFIKA ISSUES SAMOAN QUOTA & PACIFIC

ACCESS CATEGORY

O le vaega faapitoa lenei o le Legal Lowdown e ta-

lanoina ai mataupu faaletulafono o loo aafia ai tagata

Pasefika i le siosiomaga inei Niu Sila.

O lenei masina o lo’o faatauaina tulafono mataupu faa-

tatau i femalagaiga. E faapitoa le faasoa i lenei lomiga i

aiaiga o le Samoan Quota (e mo na’o tagata nuu Sa-

moa) poo le Pacific Access Category (mo tagata nuu Kiri-

pati, Tonga ma Tuvalu). Ua faasalalau foi igoa o tagata

na manuia i lenei tausaga i le se’i i le website a le Mata-

galuega o Femalagaiga (Immigration New Zealand).

What is the Samoan Quota (SQ) and Pacific Access

Category (PAC)?

Each year, a fixed number of positions are set aside where

immigrants are invited to apply for New Zealand residency.

This year the set numbers are as follows:

1,100 places available to Samoan citizens,

250 to Tongan citizens,

250 to Fijian citizens

75 to Kiribati citizens and

75 to Tuvaluan citizens.

Registrations were open from 1—30 April 2015 and the bal-

lot draw took place on 5 June 2015.

Successful Applicants

Successful applicants should have received an Invitation to

apply for residence by 3 July 2015.

A list of successful registration numbers can be found via:

Immigration NZ website

TTS Suva website

INZ offices in Tonga and Samoa

The Tuvalu High Commission in Suva, and the Tuvalu Depart-

ment of Labour

The New Zealand High Commission Kiribati and the Kiribati

Department of Labour, and

Some pacific newspapers, banks and post offices

SQ Residence Application Criteria

Successful applicants must lodge their residence applications

by 4pm, 7 March 2016. To qualify, an applicant must:

be a Samoan citizen

be either in Samoa or lawfully in New Zealand at the

time their application for a resident visa is made; and

have been aged between 18 and 45 (inclusive) at the reg-

istration closing date; and

have an acceptable offer of employment, or have a part-

ner included in the application who has an acceptable

offer of employment (per S1.10.30); and

(if they have dependent children) meet the minimum in-

come requirement (per S1.10.35); and

meet a minimum level of English language ability (per

S1.10.45); and

meet health and character requirements

An applicant is able to register for the SQ or PAC if they

have previously overstayed in New Zealand, so long as they

departed voluntarily.

A person who has a deportation notice in force against him

or her is not eligible to register for the SQ or PAC.

More information about the SQ and PAC scheme can be

found at the Immigration New Zealand website via the fol-

lowing link:

www.dol.govt.nz/immigration/knowledgebase/item/5451

Source: Immigration New Zealand

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 6

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Legal Education UPCOMING

SESSIONS

We currently have 2 on-air legal

information slots which are part of

our preventative services. We

provide these services every

Wednesday. Each week we look at a different area of

law. The details of our on-air services are as follows:

Planet FM: Kiribati Voice, from 1:00pm

Radio 531pi: Pacific Drive Time, from 2:00pm

To listen to our on-air services, tune in, live via the links

below:

ON AIR

Legal Services

LEGAL EDUCATION

Our legal education sessions are part of our preventative

services which aim to reduce the number of legal disputes

occurring in our communities.

Through our legal education services, we seek to inform,

and educate the community on their legal rights and re-

sponsibilities in relation to various legal topics.

It is also an opportunity for individuals to ask questions

about specific areas of law they may not understand.

For more information on our Legal Education sessions

visit the education tab on our website to download/view

our education booklet or contact us on (09) 274 4966

Send in your news

If you have any news or notices, please send them to news-

letter@clsstlaw.com

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 7

From Monday, 6 July 2015, applications for most tempo-

rary entry visas no longer have to contain originals or cer-

tified copies of documents. Colour photocopies will be

acceptable instead. Temporary visa entry applications in-

clude applications for work, student or visitor visas. Origi-

nals or certified copies will still be required for residence

applications, and temporary applications under the entre-

preneur work visa category. Additionally an immigration

officer may still ask for an original document during the

processing of a visa application. INZ will continue to ac-

cept applications containing originals or certified copies if

they are provided. All relevant INZ forms, guides, check-

lists and webpages will be updated to reflect the change on

6 July.

Source: Auckland Young Lawyers

CHANGES TO TEMPORARY

ENTRY VISA

APPLICATIONS

8

Otara

CLSST Office

120 Bairds Road

Otara Appointments available:

Monday – Friday

Manukau Salvation Army

16B Bakerfield Place

Manukau

Appointments available:

Monday-Friday

Papakura

Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau

4a Opaheke Road

Papakura

Appointments available:

Thursday

Pukekohe

6A Rouslton Street

Pukekohe

Appointments available:

Fortnightly on Tuesday

Manurewa

Manurewa Marae

81 Finlayson Ave

Manurewa

Appointments available:

Wednesday

OUTREACH CLINICS: Our Community

TE MATA LAW:

5 August 2015

7 October 2015

BENNION LAW:

2 September 2015

4 November 2015

A free Māori Land Advisory Clinic provided in partnership with the Te Mata Law, Bennion Law and

Manurewa Marae, (First Wednesday of every month - by appointment only). Below are the dates for the

2015 Māori Land Advisory Clinics:

CLINIC DETAILS:

Manurewa Marae

81 Finlayson Ave

MANUREWA

30mins appointments

from 10am -1pm

For more information or to book an appointment (with a lawyer) contact

Wi Pere Mita: (09) 274 4966 or wipere.mita@clsstlaw.com

MAORI LAND CLINIC FREE MAORI LAND ADVICE

© CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - admin@clsstlaw.com 8