Public Law

Public Law covers both traditional constitutional and administrative law as well as more specialised work on the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Maori carving

Subject overview

Auckland Law School has a core group of public lawyers whose work covers both traditional constitutional and administrative law and the two main modern additions: study of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Treaty of Waitangi. In addition, there is a wider grouping of staff that works in specialist fields such as local government and resource management, health and mental health law, and immigration and refugee law.

The faculty regularly attracts visits from leading international Public Law scholars and has hosted several conferences on aspects of Public Law in recent years, often in conjunction with the Legal Research Foundation.

We offer several papers in Public Law in part IV of the undergraduate LLB*:

  • Administrative Law
  • Advanced Public Law
  • Comparative Constitutional Law
  • Comparative Indigenous Law Topics
  • Contemporary Tiriti Issues
  • Counterterrorism Law and Policy
  • Healthcare Law
  • Human Rights Theory and its Application
  • Immigration and Refugee Law
  • Privacy Law
  • Public Authority Liability
  • Rights and Freedoms

*Not all courses are offered every year.

Where can Public Law take you?

Our graduates who specialised in Public Law have found employment as lawyers advising on regulatory, legislative and policy issues for central government, other public organisations including local government, and private bodies.

Explore your study options in Public Law