Hannah Yang

Hannah has experience in a broad range of public and private litigation, including contract, equity and trusts, human rights, judicial review, land, local government, tort, and Treaty of Waitangi issues. Hannah has appeared as counsel in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.

Hannah completed her BA/LLB(Hons) at the University of Auckland, and her LLM at Harvard Law School as a Frank Knox Fellow, a William Georgetti Scholar, an Ethel Benjamin Scholar, and an Yvonne A M Smith Scholar. While at Harvard, Hannah was a submissions editor on the Harvard Human Rights Journal and a research assistant for Professor Steven Shavell.

Prior to joining Thorndon Chambers as a full member, Hannah worked as Judge’s Clerk to the Hon Justice Williams at the New Zealand Supreme Court and then as a junior barrister at Thorndon Chambers.

• Experience

  • Smith v Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd [2024] NZSC 5, [2024] NZRMA 202: strikeout appeal on the application of torts (negligence, public nuisance, novel tort) to climate change (junior counsel for Human Rights Commission, intervening)

  • Smith v Attorney-General [2024] NZCA 692: strikeout appeal on duties of the Crown under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the Treaty of Waitangi in relation to climate change (junior counsel for Human Rights Commission, intervening)

  • Thorndon Quay Collective Inc v Wellington City Council [2024] NZCA 316: on legality of council decisionmaking process (junior counsel for appellant)

  • Skerret-White v Minister for Children [2024] NZCA 160: on legality of Waitangi Tribunal’s exercise of power to summons sitting Minister (junior counsel for appellant)

  • New Zealand Independent Community Pharmacy Group v Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand [2023] NZHC 1486: judicial review on the legality of pharmacy licensing and contracting (junior counsel for applicant)

  • Wrenn v Boughen [2023] NZHC 2494: on misrepresentation, mistake and breach of warranty in relation to the sale and purchase of a property (junior counsel for defendant)

  • Stafford v Attorney-General [2024] NZHC 3110: on Crown fiduciary and trust obligations relating to customary Māori land (junior counsel for plaintiff)

• Select Publications

  • “A principle of legality for the Treaty of Waitangi” [2022] NZLJ 400

  • (co-authored with the late Douglas Ewen KC) “Human rights remedies and responses” in Human Rights Intensive (NZLS CLE, Wellington, 2022)

  • “Exclusivity, substantial interruption and the burden of proof in Re Edwards (Te Whakatōhea No 2)” (2021) 27 Auckland U L Rev 415

  • “Stafford v Attorney-General [2021] NZHC 335” [2021] NZLJ 139

  • “The Law of Wheel Clamping in New Zealand” [2020] NZ L Rev 71

• Qualifications

  • LLM (Harvard)

  • BA/LLB(Hons) (Auckland)

hannah.yang@chambers.co.nz

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