Lies, Damned Lies, and Sovcits: Perspectives on Pseudolaw in New Zealand

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of New Zealand based pseudolaw adherents and, in turn, an increase in pseudolaw adherents coming before the courts. This thesis provides evidence that pseudolaw and pseudolaw adherents are well established in New Zealand and are increasingly evolving and adapting to better fit the conditions which they find themselves in. In this thesis, I drew on a mixed methods data set of 267 judgements from across New Zealand’s courts, as well as six interviews with lawyers, researchers, counterterrorism professionals and politicians. I argue that pseudolaw should be situated as a concern due to the profoundly negative outcomes that pseudolaw imposes on the courts, on the legal system, on victims, on practitioners, and also on pseudolaw adherents. I argue that the authorities may be missing chances to disrupt and prevent the adoption and acceptance of pseudolaw, thus inadvertently reinforcing the narratives of, and increasing the damage done by, pseudolaw adherents in New Zealand. I situate pseudolaw as an innately adaptive belief and ideology. It should be understood as a politically agnostic belief, being more akin to the skeleton of an ideology, to which adherents add their own individual beliefs as they see fit. This fluidity can make pseudolaw remarkably difficult to identify and to deal with. There remains a serious need for further and varied research here. Additionally, while there is no single path by which we may best address pseudolaw, it is clear that a whole-of-society approach is needed.