There are a number of stories that are trending in the law industry this month. Below we will take a look at some of the most popular stories.
New Zealand’s gun buyback problem
New Zealand is taking gun crime and guns very seriously. Therefore, the government has introduced a program that allows its citizens to give up their guns for payment. The amount paid can vary between twenty-five and ninety-five per cent of the original gun price. The value heavily depends on the condition of the gun. This new law has been a reaction to the atrocities that killed 51 people in an Islamic centre. So far, the New Zealand government has seen 15000 newly banned weapons and over 64000 related to gun parts. The government has paid out approximately 20 million dollars to aid this process.
There are an estimated 1.5 million guns in New Zealand. The estimated number of banned guns is 175 thousand, which means that this is ten percent of the total number of banned guns. The owners of these banned guns have until the 20th of December to hand or turn in their weapons or have the risk of facing criminal charges. The opposition of this programme has accused the government of unfairly targeting lawful gun owners who obey the law, rather than focussing on actual criminals.
Workplace
Workplaces are coming under scrutiny to make sure that all employees are being treated fairly. Workplace bullying and gender discrimination are being attempted to eradicate by work HR departments. There has been a number of headlining stories related to the gender pay gap between men and women and about how women feel bullied at work, which means that more powers are now being given to employees so that they can ensure that all employees are treated equally. Workplaces are also encouraged to make sure that they can cater to people who do not wish to identify with a particular gender. This means that workplaces must make sure that they have adequate facilities to suit.
Referendum on Cannabis
Cannabis has been making the headlines around the world as many nations are looking to legalise the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. The referendum in New Zealand is aimed at wiping out minor cannabis-related convictions which will hopefully aid the illegal trading of this drug. For some time now it has been reported that cannabis can offer certain health benefits which will help somebody who has a chronic illness. A statistic that the government is aware of is that 80 percent of New Zealanders will have tried cannabis before the age of 25.
Abortion
The New Zealand government has passed the first read of a parliament bill related to abortion. Abortion is only legal in New Zealand if you have the approval of two doctors who must agree that the risk to health if pregnancy is continued and /or an incest case. Also, if a foetus is found to be mentally subnormal or has abnormalities after twenty weeks, then this is also when abortion can also be considered.
Many opposers of this argue that abortion is playing God and that abortion has no place in New Zealand. In the last ten years, 2566 women have been told that their request for an abortion was unjustified. Many believe that this kind of law takes away the choice of women who may need this procedure for various reasons. There has never been a criminal conviction under the current abortion rules. This is a fact that has been pointed out by the opposition to the law change.
Tax office changes
The New Zealand tax office has recently made it legal to receive salaries in cryptocurrencies. This means they are also allowed to pay tax on it, as required. Under the new rules of income tax, it states that employees can be paid salaries in crypto assets but it has to be performed under an employment contract. It is also a point of law that the crypto asset has to be able to be exchanged for flat currency. For tax purposes, these crypto-assets must be provided as shares. As far as tax is concerned, any salaries or remuneration that has been paid in crypto-assets has to be treated as pay as you earn. This change will be welcomed by those that use crypto-assets as a form of payment.
Allergies
For a long time, allergy sufferers have had to put up with not knowing what is in their food. Now, however, help is at hand as Natasha’s Law has been introduced which means that allergy sufferers are now protected under a new law so we will hopefully no longer have cases where people die due to an allergic reaction. Around the world, there have been a number of cases where people have had an allergy to certain foods that have not been labelled properly and ended up being very ill. Most allergy sufferers are fully aware of what they need to avoid and often have to rely on the labelling on food products to be as accurate as possible. The new law states that all food must carry a full list of ingredients and this comes under Natasha’s law.
This month in law has seen a number of high profile cases making the headlines. However, as you can see, the government has been reacting positively to make the changes needed to ensure that the citizens of New Zealand are safe and feel that their concerns are being heard. With any democracy, you will never please everyone, but the changes that have been highlighted recently have been seen as taking a positive step in the right direction and are proving very popular amongst New Zealand’s electorate.