Cease and Desist Commissioners Appointments

Commerce Minister Paul Swain has announced the appointment of two Cease and Desist Commissioners to the Commerce Commission. Fiona Bolwell and Terence Stapleton will take up the new roles from 1 April.

“These appointments represent a new enforcement role for the Commission,” Paul Swain said.

“The Commissioners will have the power to require anyone to ‘cease and desist’ any particular activity that is in breach of the Commerce Act,” he said.

“This will be as an alternative to the Commission seeking interim injunctions from the High Court and may result in more timely and effective enforcement of the Commerce Act.

“The cease and desist commissioners will have a quasi-judicial function, their sole purpose will be to hear and determine applications.

“At every hearing for a cease and desist order, the Commerce Commission and the alleged offender are entitled to appear and give evidence.

“This means that cease and desist commissioners exercise their functions independently of the rest of the Commission,” Paul Swain said.

Fiona Bolwell is an experienced litigator who practices as a barrister sole in the commercial law and taxation area. She was Crown Counsel for six years and was a partner at Cooney Lees and Morgan (a twelve-partner firm in Tauranga). During her career as Crown Counsel Fiona Bolwell acted as senior counsel in several major Court of Appeal cases and appeared as junior counsel before the Privy Council.

Terence Stapleton, a former member of the Commission, is a barrister sole. He has a close involvement with the New Zealand Law Society’s litigation skills training programmes. He is also a commercial mediator and arbitrator and is a Councillor of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute. He was previously the Crown Solicitor at Gisborne from 1979 to 1987.