Lecretia Seales Memorial Lecture in Law Reform

The Lecretia Seales Lecture is given in honour of lawyer and law reform advocate Lecretia Seales.

Lecretia Seales was a New Zealand lawyer who, upon suffering a brain tumour and enduring treatments for it, became an advocate of physician-assisted dying.

In 2015, Lecretia went to the high court to seek a ruling that would allow a doctor to assist her to die with her consent. Her court case initiated a national debate and helped galvanise a parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying.

The End-of-Life Choice Act was passed in November 2019, and a public referendum secured support for the Act which was implemented in 2020.

The lecture is generously supported by Lecretia’s family and friends.

Lecretia Seales Lecture 2025

Mamari Stephens wears a red shirt and smiles at the camera
Māmari Stephens

The 2025 Lecretia Seales Lecture was delivered by Māmari Stephens.

Māmari is a Reader at The Faculty of Law at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. She has been with the Faculty since 2006 and her primary research interests are law and language, Māori and the New Zealand legal system, and social security law.

Māmari is also the project leader for Te Rauhī i te Tikanga—A Tikanga Companion, which aims to reveal the practices and principles of tikanga Māori as a coherent system of law. Drawing on her extensive experience, she to reflected on key insights and developments from the project and shared how research and innovations surrounding tikanga Māori may help transform legal education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Watch a video of the lecture below.

Past lectures have been given by:

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