New Zealand has been ranked sixth overall in a global index measuring the rule of law.

Conservatives leader Colin Craig has rejected Russel Norman's suggestion he's limited his defamation claim because he's afraid of what's in his emails about gay Kiwis.

Throughout his 34-year legal career, Simon Moore, QC has had a front row seat to the recounting of some of the most horrible crimes in this country's history.

Amanda Knox's former boyfriend has admitted he "has some questions" about her behaviour in the hours after British student Meredith Kercher was murdered.

The school that excluded an Asperger's student after a row with a teacher says the decision to remove the boy was not taken lightly, but it'll work with his family.

The family of an Asperger's child who was excluded from his high school after a dispute with a teacher hope he will be able to return to the school.

Almost 4000 out-of-pocket Lombard investors will still get only "peanuts" after the failed finance firm's receivers reached a $10 million settlement with its directors.

Chorus says it isn't relying on High Court action or an appeal to the Commerce Commission to reduce the changes it has to make to its business.

Defamation experts say Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has little chance of winning a case against Greens co-leader Russel Norman.

Kim Dotcom is facing calls to pay $500,000 in debts by creditors who have watched him appear to embrace again an opulent lifestyle.

Treating gambling addicts who commit crimes would be much cheaper than jailing them, and would reduce reoffending, says a New York judge.

The real-life soap opera of Schapelle Corby's drugs conviction has gripped Australia for a decade.

The Government will discuss frontline police wearing small cameras on their uniforms while on duty so they can provide immediate evidence.

Most of those who seek to reduce their tax obligations are net contributors to our society, writes Damien Grant. The only complaints against them are they do not pay enough.

Criminal files will be shared between Australia and New Zealand after an agreement was signed this week.

It took almost 10 years, but convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is set to taste freedom after Indonesian authorities granted her parole.

By this time next week, or even earlier, Schapelle Corby could be bodyboarding in the Bali surf.

Internal company emails reveal how MediaWorks tried to shut down media coverage of controversy over a Roast Busters interview by hosts John Tamihere and Willy Jackson.

The judge who reinstated murder convictions against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito speaks for the first time about his anguish at determining the verdict.

Sollecito `devastated' by court ruling and denies bid to flee justice, as Knox contemplates time in grim US jail.

Teina Pora's grandson is just a little older than his daughter was when Pora was sent to prison in 1994 for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett two years earlier. Teina Pora with grandson Benson Bennett. Picture / Sarah Ivey

Twice convicted murderer and rapist Teina Pora is said to be 'absolutely ecstatic' at the news the Privy Council will hear his appeal later in the year.

George Stinney was only 14 when a court in South Carolina sentenced him to death in 1944.

Violent and disorderly drunks in New South Wales will face tough new mandatory jail sentences in a package of measures to battle binge drinking.

Australian businessman Marcus Lee says touching down on home soil feels like a dream after spending almost five years fighting fraud charges in Dubai.

If all firearms, as well as owners, were registered, it may have been more difficult for Livingstone to shoot his children.

A woman who was savagely beaten as she walked along her own street in daylight is disgusted her alleged attacker has been released on bail.