BCA LLB(Hons) PhD(Well)
Contact
Tel +64 3 479 4961
Office: Richardson Building, 8th Floor, 8N6
Email maria.hook@otago.ac.nz
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.
The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand website
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.
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.
Maria currently teaches Private International Law, International Law, International Litigation and Dispute Settlement, and the Law of Torts.
Publications
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/jel/eqaa032
Hook, M. (2021). Conflict of laws. New Zealand Law Review, 2020(4), 685-701.
Hook, M. & Wass, J. (2021, February). Webb v Webb (PC): The role of a foreign tax debt in the allocation of matrimonial property. Conflict of Laws.net: Views and News in Private International Law. Retrieved from https://conflictoflaws.net/2021/webb-v-webb-pc-the-role-of-a-foreign-tax-debt-in-the-allocation-of-matrimonial-property/
Hook, M., & Wass, J. (2020). The conflict of laws in New Zealand: A comprehensive analysis of civil cross-border matters in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: LexisNexis, 751p.
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. & Wass, J. (2021, February). Webb v Webb (PC): The role of a foreign tax debt in the allocation of matrimonial property. Conflict of Laws.net: Views and News in Private International Law. Retrieved from https://conflictoflaws.net/2021/webb-v-webb-pc-the-role-of-a-foreign-tax-debt-in-the-allocation-of-matrimonial-property/
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
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
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
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
Hook, M. (2020, February). Common law recognition of foreign declarations of parentage. Conflict of Laws.net: Views and News in Private International Law. Retrieved from https://conflictoflaws.net/2020/common-law-recognition-of-foreign-declarations-of-parentage
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
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
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
Authored Book - Research
Hook, M., & Wass, J. (2020). The conflict of laws in New Zealand: A comprehensive analysis of civil cross-border matters in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: LexisNexis, 751p.
Hook, M. (2016). The choice of law contract. Oxford, UK: Hart, 255p.
Chapter in Book - Research
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.
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
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.
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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/jel/eqaa032
Hook, M. (2021). Conflict of laws. New Zealand Law Review, 2020(4), 685-701.
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
Hook, M. (2018). Applying Israel’s Anti-Boycott Law to New Zealand activists. New Zealand Law Journal, (November), 318-320 & 324.
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
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.
Wass, J., & Hook, M. (2017). Reform of choice of law rules for tort. New Zealand Law Journal, 1, 24-26.
Hook, M. (2016). Reasonable forseeability of harm as an element of nuisance. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, 47, 267-282.
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
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
Hook, M. (2012). Party autonomy: Yes or no? The 'commodification' of the law applicable to matrimonial property relationships. Nederlands Internationaal Privaatrecht, 4, 587-596.
Hook, M. (2011). Arbitration agreements and anational law: A question of intent? Journal of International Arbitration, 28(3), 175-186.
Hook, M. (2008). New Zealand's Accident Compensation Scheme and man-made disease. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, 39, 289-318.
