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Story: Law

Legal traditions

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Legal traditions

The five judges of the Supreme Court bow, as is customary, at the court's official opening on 1 July 2004. New Zealand law is based on the English system and incorporates many traditional practices that govern how the courts operate.

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Dominion Post

Reference: 2 June 2004

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How to cite this page

Geoffrey Palmer, Law – New Zealand’s legal traditions, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/36993/legal-traditions (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Geoffrey Palmer, published 12 June 2012, updated 1 October 2016.