Supporting Independent Legal Thinking

The New Zealand Law Foundation – Te Manatū a Ture o Aotearoa – is an independent trust established in 1982 and is a registered charitable entity in terms of the Charities Act 2005. We are registered with the Charities Commission under No. CC22185 in the Charities Register.

We began funding in 1992 and have provided grants for legal research, public education on legal matters and legal training. Until mid 2020 we operated a Legal Research and General Law Grants Programme, and ran New Zealand’s premier legal scholarship programme.

THE LAW FOUNDATION IS NOW IN RECESS AND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH FUNDING. The Foundation’s last funding round was in July 2020. No new applications are being accepted now, except for the annual Cleary Memorial Prize and the Ethel Benjamin Scholarship and a new Fellowship that will be launched in 2023. Throughout its recess period, the Foundation may make occasional grants and awards as determined by the board.

Objectives

Our Trust Deed objectives state we are to:

• Provide opportunities for the acquisition and diffusion of legal knowledge and the consideration and suggestion of amendments to the law.
• Carry out research in the science of jurisprudence in all its branches for the education and benefit of the public.
• Disseminate knowledge gained by such research for the education of legal practitioners, students of law, and all other persons and organisations concerned with the application, administration, development or improvement of the law.
• Protect and promote the interests of the public in relation to legal matters.

The Trust Deed also set out the purposes our grant funding can be applied towards. Details of these purposes can be found in the appendix to our Guidelines for Applicants.

Our Fund

The Law Foundation capital fund originally came from a statutory entitlement but that ended in 2008. Now our only income is the interest from the investment of our capital fund and from any donations or bequests received. The Law Foundation is determined to fund worthy legal research projects that fit our objectives. This means that the more good work we do, despite careful stewardship, the harder it is to maintain our Fund. For now the Foundation is in recess while it rebuilds its capital fund. We are always looking for ways to extend the life of our Fund through joint venture funding so we can continue our good work for New Zealanders and New Zealand’s legal community. Email the Foundation on LFadmin@lawfoundation.org.nz to discuss how you can support our work through partnerships, or make a donation.

Co-funding arrangement with the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation

There are now two funders of independent legal research in New Zealand – the New Zealand Law Foundation and the Borrin Foundation. We established a collaborative relationship and actively co-funded projects until the Foundation went into recess. During the Foundation’s recess, we encourage researchers to approach the Borrin Foundation as a potential source of funding.