Week 5: Pagan Practices and the Law - Part 1 - Intro

So a few years ago at a Cauldrons' PaganFest I held a lecture on how our Pagan practices can be influenced by the laws of New Zealand.  It was a long and involved lecture talking about the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 and how it applies to various Pagan related activities.  I was very nervous when I gave it and I've since tried to block the memory of it out because while I was happy with the content, the delivery left a lot to be desired.   Anyway, a friend reminded me of it by sending me a link that illustrated one of the points I made with regards to nudity, and it dawned on me that aside from the rant last year about Discharge Without Conviction I haven't posted anything law related and I figured it's probably time I change that.

So I'm going to rework the lecture into separate posts.  This will give me the ability to fully explore each topic in a clear and hopefully easy way to follow.

I'll probably stick to the format of the original lecture - beginning with the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 and how it protects us against discrimination as well as its limitations and from there I'll look specifically at different situations we find ourselves in.  In the lecture we looked at bonfires, nudity, sex in ritual and athames.  If I can come up with any other topics to discuss and explain then I will add to that.  If you have any areas you want clarified then please add them to my list either in a comment or by PMing me on Facebook.  I'll be looking at things from an NZ legal perspective, even though I live in Australia, because that's where I got my law degree.  However we'll see, that may change if there's a need. 

And here's the usual disclaimer:  I'm not a practicing lawyer in NZ or Australia.  Yes I am admitted in both jurisdictions, but I am not registered and don't practice.  What I post here is information readily available to anyone if they know where to look and how to interpret it.  The information contained in these posts is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice.  These posts will contain general information and may not reflect current legal developments (because, well the law is constantly changing like the tides). We disclaim all liability for actions you take or fail to take based on any content on this site.

Phew... enough with that.