When we are ready to consult publicly on a law reform review, we invite the public to give us feedback by making a submission. We want to hear from anyone who has experience of the issues under review. Any contribution is welcome, large or small.
Submissions help us better understand different experiences of and issues with the law and develop better recommendations for change.
Submissions can be made during a review's public consultation period(s). You can subscribe for updates on any current review to be alerted when it is open for public consultation.
When we are seeking submissions for a review, we will include guidance on how to make a submission on the review’s project webpage.
This will include a closing date for submissions. We set a deadline so that we have enough time to properly consider the issues and develop our recommendations. We may not be able to consider a late submission.
The issues we review sometimes generate strong opinions and disagreement. It is our role to consider all sides of an issue. We also need to keep our people safe. If a submission contains material that is threatening, abusive or unlawful, we will stop reading or listening to it and will disregard its contents. We will not respond to communication that is threatening, abusive or unlawful and may take action to block further communication.
If you send us a submission, we will:
- consider it in our review
- keep it as part of our official records.
We may also:
- refer to the submission in our publications
- use the submission to inform our work in other reviews
- publish the submission on our website.
The publication of a submission does not mean that the Commission accepts or agrees with the views expressed in the submission. The views are those of the submitter.
In collecting submissions, the Commission complies with the Privacy Act 2020, which governs how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information you provide. You have the right to access and correct your personal information. For more information see our privacy statement.
Information given to the Commission is subject to the Official Information Act 1982. If we receive a request for information that includes your submission, we must consider releasing your submission. If the information request includes your personal information, we will try to consult with you. For more information about the Official Information Act, please see the Ombudsman's website.
We treat all submissions as public, except for information you ask us to treat as confidential.
If you are an individual:
- We will withhold your contact details when we publish your submission on our website.
- You may ask that we do not publish your name. When we publish your submission or refer to it in our publications, we will withhold your name.
For law reform projects that might include highly sensitive, personal information, we may decide to withhold identifying information contained in all personal submissions.
If you are an organisation, we will publish your name and any publicly available contact details.
If you would like any other information in your submission to be treated as confidential, please explain in your submission which parts should be withheld and the reasons. We will take your views into account in deciding:
- if and how to refer to your submission in our publications
- if and how to make your submission publicly available on our website
- whether to withhold or release any information requested under the Official Information Act.