About Tony Ellis
Tony Ellis is one of New Zealand’s leading Human Rights lawyers.
His approach to the law is international and comparative he holds law degrees from Australia, England and New Zealand. He is currently enrolled for a Doctorate.
He has predominately a public law and criminal practice. Tony takes criminal cases and judicial reviews, and compensation covering prisoners rights including deaths or other abuses in custody, and other breaches of human rights. He is the only New Zealand barrister regularly having international human rights law cases before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and has several in draft stage, and is the only New Zealand lawyer ever to have won any cases before the UNHRC.
Given the 1 July 2011 legal aid changes, which provide for random assignment of lawyers, he cannot take cases on criminal legal aid for trial work involving imprisonment for 10 years or less.
Tony will take legal aid appeals usually for cases where the penalty is serious 10 years or more, but will consider other cases.
Tony will also consider taking pro bono (free) work especially where fundamental human rights including mental health or intellectual disability is involved. Pro Bono work will usually be on matters of particular public importance or difficult cases where numerous other practitioners have declined to act.
Tony takes a very detailed approach to criminal cases, including where necessary multiple pre-trial challenges. With an expected change to fixed fee legal aid work to be introduced in late 2011, this may no longer be possible on legal aid.
Tony's particular interests including human rights generally, Criminal appeals, Judicial reviews, Habeas Corpus, Intellectual Disability and Mental Health, and Preventive Detention cases as well as cases involving recusal (disqualification) of Judges.
Tony was President or Chairperson of the New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties for over 8 years until the end of 2008. He has been a frequent media spokesman on civil liberties and human rights issues and a prolific writer of submissions to Select Committees on aspects of proposed legislation.