Maria currently teaches Private International Law, International Law, International Litigation and Dispute Settlement, and the Law of Torts.
Research interests
Maria's primary research interest is private international law (the conflict of laws), which is the law dealing with civil cross-border matters. She is the co-author of New Zealand's first comprehensive text on the subject, The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2020), and she is an editor of the online platform The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand.
Maria's work ranges widely across the different functions of the conflict of laws. She is very interested in the methodological framework that shapes the resolution of conflict of laws problems, and she has written comprehensively on the role of party autonomy in choice of law (The Choice of Law Contract (Hart, 2016)). She often takes an internationalist approach to her research, covering both common law and civil law jurisdictions.
Background
Prior to joining the Faculty in 2014, Maria was a judges' clerk at the High Court of New Zealand and worked as a Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, where she also completed her PhD.
Publications
Wass, J., & Hook, M. (2023). The Hague conventions on international civil procedure: The case for accession. New Zealand Law Review, (1), 99-133.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2022). Does New Zealand consumer legislation apply to a claim against a foreign manufacturer? New Zealand Law Journal, (6), 201-203, 206.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2022). Renvoi and preliminary questions. In P. Beaumont & J. Holliday (Eds.), A guide to global private international law. (pp. 61-73). Bloomsbury. doi: 10.5040/9781509932085
Chapter in Book - Research
Hook, M. (2021). New Zealand: New Zealand perspectives on the Hague Principles. In D. Girsberger, T. K. Graziano & J. L. Neels (Eds.), Choice of law in international commercial contracts. (pp. 734-746). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/law/9780198840107.001.0001
Chapter in Book - Research
Hook, M. (2021). Conflict of laws. New Zealand Law Review, 2020(4), 685-701.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M., Warnock, C., Allan, B., & Pirini, M. (2021). Tort to the environment: A stretch too far or a simple step forward? Smith v Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd and Others [2020] NZHC 419. Journal of Environmental Law, 33, 195-210. doi: 10.1093/jel/eqaa032
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2020, December). The complex meaning of 'the good arguable case' standard. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=164
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2020, September). The law governing collisions on the high seas. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=154
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2020, May). Enforcement of a promise to pay a deferred dower/dowry. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=139
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2020, March). High Court decision on anti-suit injunctions. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=134
Other Research Output
Hook, M., & Wass, J. (2020). The conflict of laws in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: LexisNexis, 751p.
Authored Book - Research
Hook, M. (2019, December). Whakaari/White Island, civil liability and the conflict of laws. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=121
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2019, August). The Law Commission's Review of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=111
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2019). A first principles approach to couples' property in the conflict of laws. Journal of Private International Law, 15(2), 257-287. doi: 10.1080/17441048.2019.1647990
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2019). The conflict of laws as a shared language for the cross-border application of statutes. In M. Douglas, V. Bath, M. Keyes & A. Dickinson (Eds.), Commercial issues in private international law: A common law perspective. (pp. 175-200). Oxford, UK: Hart Publishers.
Chapter in Book - Research
Hook, M. (2018). Applying Israel’s Anti-Boycott Law to New Zealand activists. New Zealand Law Journal, (10), 318-320, 324.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2017, December). The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v New Zealand Basing Ltd: Comments on the majority judgement. The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand: News and Comments. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/?p=41
Other Research Output
Hook, M. (2017/2018). New Zealand's choice of law rules relating to tort. In A. Bonomi & G. P. Romano (Eds.), Yearbook of Private International Law Vol. XIX. (pp. 313-332). Lausanne, Switzerland: Swiss institute of Comparative Law. doi: 10.9785/9783504386078-016
Chapter in Book - Research
Hook, M. (2017). Private international law and human rights. In M. Bedggood, K. Gledhill & I. McIntosh (Eds.), International human rights law in Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 1107-1138). Wellington, New Zealand: Thomson Reuters.
Chapter in Book - Research
Wass, J., & Hook, M. (2017). Reform of choice of law rules for tort. New Zealand Law Journal, 1, 24-26.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2017). The “statutist trap” and subject-matter jurisdiction. Journal of Private International Law, 13(2), 435-462. doi: 10.1080/17441048.2017.1334348
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M., & Wass, J. (2017). The Employment Relations Act and its effect on contracts governed by foreign law. New Zealand Law Journal, 3, 80-87.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2016). Reasonable forseeability of harm as an element of nuisance. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, 47, 267-282.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2016). The choice of law contract. Oxford, UK: Hart, 255p.
Authored Book - Research
Hook, M. (2015). The concept of modal choice of law rules. Journal of Private International Law, 11(2), 185-211. doi: 10.1080/17441048.2015.1070570
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2014). The choice of law contract (PhD). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Awarded Doctoral Degree
Hook, M. (2014). The choice of law agreement as a reason for exercising jurisdiction. International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 63(4), 963-975. doi: 10.1017/S0020589314000451
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2012). Party autonomy: Yes or no? The 'commodification' of the law applicable to matrimonial property relationships. Nederlands Internationaal Privaatrecht, 4, 587-596.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2011). Arbitration agreements and anational law: A question of intent? Journal of International Arbitration, 28(3), 175-186.
Journal - Research Article
Hook, M. (2008). New Zealand's Accident Compensation Scheme and man-made disease. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, 39, 289-318.
Journal - Research Article