A man in a black suit, white shirt, green patterned tie, and glasses with a dark background.

Matt McKillop

+64 27 325 7115
matt@mckillop.co.nz

Matt has a broad range of litigation experience, with a particular focus on human rights, discrimination, administrative and public law, criminal appellate law, and medico-legal issues. He has also conducted investigations in relation to employment disputes and the exercise of public powers. Matt has appeared as lead and junior counsel in courts at every level, from the Supreme Court to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. Prior to commencing barristerial practice in 2022, Matt worked at the Crown Law Office for nine years.

Matt’s academic interests are in mental health and disability law, and its intersection with criminal law. He has published a book chapter in Dawson and Gledhill’s New Zealand’s Mental Health Act in Practice (2013, VUP, Wellington), as well as several articles on aspects of mental health law. He has argued a number of criminal and civil appeals relating to mental capacity issues.

Matt is approved to provide legal aid services for civil claims and criminal and civil appeals, as well as mental health and intellectual disability hearings.

Terms of Engagement

Areas of expertise

  • Examples of Matt’s recent experience in human rights law include:

    • Representing the Department of Corrections in a High Court claim brought by an offender with significant intellectual disabilities (Miller v Attorney-General [2022] NZHC 1832)

    • Providing many pieces of legal advice on discrimination under s 19 of the Bill of Rights Act, and representation as lead and junior counsel in a number of cases relating to discrimination law (including J v Attorney-General [2018] NZHC 1209, [2023] NZCA 660, [2025] NZSC 103; Butcher v NZ Transport Agency [2022] NZHRRT 21)

    • Acting as junior counsel to the Solicitor-General in a Supreme Court appeal against a declaration of inconsistency (Attorney-General v Chisnall [2024] NZSC 178, [2024] 1 NZLR 768)

  • Examples of Matt’s recent experience in administrative and public law include:

    • Representing the Attorney-General and the peak body for JPs in discrimination proceedings against the Chief District Court Judge (Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices Associations Inc v Platt [2024] NZHC 3080)

    • Obtaining a declaratory judgment for an incorporated society challenging the administration of aspects of the Gambling Act 2003 (Feed Families Not Pokies v Secretary for Internal Affairs [2024] NZHC 217, [2024] NZAR 380; upheld on appeal [2025] NZCA 16)

    • Representing the Attorney-General in the Supreme Court in a claim brought by a forensic mental health patient (M v Attorney-General [2021] NZSC 118, [2021] 1 NZLR 770)

    • Representing a prisoner subject to an unfair disciplinary process (Matete v Visiting Justice [2024] NZHC 2555)

    • Representing the Electoral Commission in an application for an electoral petition under the Referendums Framework Act (O’Connell v Electoral Commission [2021] NZHC 563)

    • Appearing before Parliament’s Justice and Electoral Committee on behalf of the Attorney-General in relation to the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Bill

    • Representing the government of New Zealand before the United Nations Human Rights Committee (Thompson v New Zealand UNHRC Comm No 3162/2018)

  • Examples of Matt’s recent experience in criminal appellate cases include:

    • Representing a defendant seeking to dismiss charges in a successful Supreme Court appeal (Bailey v R [2026] NZSC 20)

    • Quashing 11 convictions for sexual offending by a child or young person (E (CA761/2023) v R [2025] NZCA 608)

    • Arguing a Supreme Court appeal relating to interpretation of the hearsay rules (L (SC 80/2023) v R [2024] NZSC 153, [2024] 1 NZLR 640)

    • Representing the Department of Corrections in appeals against extended supervision orders and public protection orders (McCorkindale v Department of Corrections [2019] NZCA 369; Chisnall v Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections [2022] NZCA 402, Chakwizira v Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections [2023] NZCA 307)

  • Examples of Matt’s recent experience in general civil litigation include:

    • Representing Police in a Court of Appeal hearing on a point of law relating to the interpretation of a jurisdictional bar in the Official Information Act (New Zealand Police v Williams [2022] NZCA 419, [2023] 2 NZLR 189)

    • Advising a government department in relation to the settlement of a negligence claim

    • Representing a lawyer opposing a judicial review of a decision not to accept a criminal charge for filing in the District Court (Dunstan v Wellington District Court [2023] NZHC 3280)

    • Obtaining civil restraint orders against vexatious litigants (Jane Siemer v Attorney-General [2018] NZHC 3406, Meenken v Family Court [2017] NZHC 2103)

    • Advising two government departments in relation to employment discrimination issues

    • Conducting an employment investigation for a public sector client