Associate Professor Edward Willis, Our People, Faculty of Law

Associate Professor

LLM (Victoria, Wellington), PhD (Auckland)

Contact

Teaching

Edward currently teaches Legal System and Competition Law. He also has previous experience teaching Public Law and Administrative Law.

Research

Edward's research interests are in constitutional theory (especially as applied to the New Zealand constitution), all aspects of public law (including rights issues, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and administrative law), competition law and business regulation. He is currently undertaking a major project interrogating the public law dimension of business regulation.

Background

Edward has an LLM with Distinction from Victoria University of Wellington and a PhD from the University of Auckland. He joined the Law Faculty at the University of Otago in 2023. Prior to that he was a practising lawyer for 12 years until joining the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland in 2018. Edward continues to mix practical experience from his time in practice with theoretical insights as part of scholarship.

Publications

Willis, E. (2024). Comity in the courts and in the constitution. New Zealand Law Journal, (8), 288-290. Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2023, July). Nature and limits of private law in responding to tragedy. Verbal presentation at the Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy (ASLP) Annual Conference, Auckland, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Willis, E. (2023). Competition law reimagined? Competition studies in New Zealand. New Zealand Law Review, (2), 191-212. Journal - Research Article

Burton Crawford, L., Blayden, L., Meagher, D., Wilberg, H., & Willis, E. (2023, July). Protecting rights through statutory interpretation: Perspectives from the antipodes. Verbal presentation at the ICON·S Conference: Islands and Ocean: Public Law in a Plural World, Wellington, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Willis, E. (2023). Judging the minimum voting age. New Zealand Law Journal, (1), 17-19. Journal - Research Article

2024

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2024). Comity in the courts and in the constitution. New Zealand Law Journal, (8), 288-290.

2023

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2023). Competition law reimagined? Competition studies in New Zealand. New Zealand Law Review, (2), 191-212.

Willis, E. (2023). Judging the minimum voting age. New Zealand Law Journal, (1), 17-19.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

2022

Chapter in Book - Research

Willis, E., & Wilberg, H. (2022). Introduction. In S. Bookman, E. Willis, H. Wilberg & M. Harris (Eds.), Pragmatism, principle, and power in common law constitutional systems: Essays in honour of Bruce Harris. (pp. 1-10). Cambridge, UK: Intersentia. doi: 10.1017/9781839702709.003

Willis, E. (2022). Constitutional pragmatism and 'third source' executive authority. In S. Bookman, E. Willis, H. Wilberg & M. Harris (Eds.), Pragmatism, principle, and power in common law constitutional systems: Essays in honour of Bruce Harris. (pp. 29-59). Cambridge, UK: Intersentia. doi: 10.1017/9781839702709.005

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2022). Unwritten constitutionalism: Stability without entrenchment. Public Law, 3, 386-405. doi: 10.3316/agispt.20220620069050

Willis, E., & Millington, L. (2022). Competition law and non-economic considerations: The particular case of democracy. Journal of International & Comparative Law, 9(1), 51-74.

2021

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2021). The systemic nature of convention and its implications for judicial enforcement. Public Law Review, 32(2), 149-165.

Willis, E. (2021). D v New Zealand Police: A comment on rights-consistent statutory interpretation in New Zealand. Public Law Review, 32(3), 190-194.

Journal - Research Other

Willis, E. (2021). [Review of the book Constitutional idolatry and democracy: Challenging the infatuation with writtenness]. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19, 1177-1181. doi: 10.1093/icon/moab086

2019

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2019). The Treaty of Waitangi: Narrative, tension, constitutional reform. New Zealand Law Review, (2), 185-214.

2018

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2018). [Review of the book Political jurisprudence]. Public Law Review, 29, 173-175.

Willis, E. (2018). Political constitutionalism: The "critical morality" of constitutional politics. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 28(2), 237-259.

2017

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E., & Blair, A. (2017). Reprieve for statutory reference to the rule of law. New Zealand Law Journal, 2, 44-45.

2016

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Willis, E. (2016). Differences between written and unwritten constitutions. Law Talk, 901, 26-27.

2015

Journal - Research Article

Blair, A., & Willis, E. (2015). Legislative reference to the rule of law. New Zealand Law Journal, 7, 251-252.

Awarded Doctoral Degree

Willis, E. (2015). Unwritten constitutionalism: A study of the principles and structures that inform New Zealand's distinctively unwritten constitution (PhD). University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2292/26839

2014

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2014). Limits on constitutional authority. Waikato Law Review, 22, 87-116.

Willis, E. (2014). Constitutional authority: Legitimising the exercise of public power in New Zealand. New Zealand Law Review, 2, 265-302.

2013

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2013). PPPs and public law. New Zealand Law Journal, 10, 380-383.

Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report

Willis, E. (2013). The Commerce Commission v Air New Zealand [2011] NZCA 64 [New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy & Practice Working Papers Series: Freedom of Expression]. Auckland, New Zealand: University of Auckland Law School.

2012

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2012). Retail market intervention and the evolution of economic regulation. New Zealand Business Law Quarterly, 18(2), 127-146.

Willis, E. (2012). On regulatory uncertainty. New Zealand Law Journal, 7, 232-234.

2011

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2011). Agenda-driven interpretation. New Zealand Law Journal, 1, 25-26.

Willis, E. (2011). Judicial review and deference. New Zealand Law Journal, 8, 283-284.

2010

Journal - Research Article

Willis, E. (2010). Legal recognition of rights derived from the Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand Journal of Public & International Law, 8(2), 217-237.

Willis, E. (2010). The interpretation of environmental legislation in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law, 14, 135-160.