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Public Law Toolbox: Solving Problems with Government
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February 20, 2019
The first half of this book overlaps with Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand written by ombudsman David McGee, except that it is less well-written, with many unnecessary "scratching the surface" backgrounds, though it did extend beyond the parliamentary scope to talk about localities. In general, I expected to see more cases that tell people how to leverage the "toolbox", but it was a disappointment. There are more factual descriptions rather than insightful observations.
Some insights from the law practicing perspective though, are mainly given in Chapter five. The ten principles for dealing with the government is useful and might be the highlight, if not the only worth-reading part, of the book. Those principles remind stakeholders to pay attention to timing, context, public perception, political interest and context when providing advocacy. It is a very useful mindset to foster - trying to gather a wider ground to support the business case, so that proposals are put forward at the right time to the right person.
The latter part shows the history of Maori fighting to have their say in legal issues that affect their interests, notably in land, fisheries, water and forestry. The so-called "case study" are merely cases without study.
Finally came the real sense of "toolbox", showing what agencies, commissions and regulators that people can resort to when aggrieved by the decisions of government. Litigation is interestingly and unsurprisingly placed at the last resort, and the reasons were elaborated well. I think the main thing is, at least the book got the message through that there were tools at disposal to deal with different situations.
I believe that the institutional author is very experienced in the practice, but it will be greater if she is more candid in giving out the "real jucy stuff". After all, it takes tremendous effort to crystalise thoughts and experience into a book. It is worth turning it into an opportunity to give the institution a positive exposure for thought leadership.
Some insights from the law practicing perspective though, are mainly given in Chapter five. The ten principles for dealing with the government is useful and might be the highlight, if not the only worth-reading part, of the book. Those principles remind stakeholders to pay attention to timing, context, public perception, political interest and context when providing advocacy. It is a very useful mindset to foster - trying to gather a wider ground to support the business case, so that proposals are put forward at the right time to the right person.
The latter part shows the history of Maori fighting to have their say in legal issues that affect their interests, notably in land, fisheries, water and forestry. The so-called "case study" are merely cases without study.
Finally came the real sense of "toolbox", showing what agencies, commissions and regulators that people can resort to when aggrieved by the decisions of government. Litigation is interestingly and unsurprisingly placed at the last resort, and the reasons were elaborated well. I think the main thing is, at least the book got the message through that there were tools at disposal to deal with different situations.
I believe that the institutional author is very experienced in the practice, but it will be greater if she is more candid in giving out the "real jucy stuff". After all, it takes tremendous effort to crystalise thoughts and experience into a book. It is worth turning it into an opportunity to give the institution a positive exposure for thought leadership.
Displaying 1 of 1 review