Annual CBA Conference - 1 and 2 August 2026

To view the photos from this year's conference, click here.

This year's Criminal Bar Association Conference was held in Auckland over the weekend of 1 and 2 August 2026. The conference sessions were held at the University of Auckland School of Business, Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland and the conference dinner was held at the Cordis Hotel. 

Attendance at the full conference fulfills 10 CPD hours - the full annual requirement.

Conference Speakers

Our keynote speaker this year is David Hallowes SC.  

David Hallowes is a Senior Counsel with extensive experience in criminal law and advocacy. Regularly appearing in serious high profile matters across Australia.  Recognised in the Doyles Guide as a Preeminent Barrister in Criminal Law Senior Counsel and the former Chair of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria. 

The speakers for this year’s conference include:

• David Hallowes SC - Keynote Speaker 
• Appellate Judges Panel - Justice France, Justice Courtney, Justice Fitzgerald
• Scott Optican – Evidence Law Update
• Warren Brookbanks - CPMIP
• Fiona Guy Kidd KC and Sam Guy – traumatic brain injuries in prisoners
• Nick Chisnall KC and Mike Wesley-Smith - working with investigative journalists
• Steven Zindel and Kerry Cook - Practicing well to avoid ineffective assistance claims
• Stephen Parry and Senior Sergeant Leah Everest, Manager, Operational Support, National Road Policing Centre - Drug driving
• Dr Hans Snoek - injury, grievous bodily harm and the like - understanding medical notes and applying them to legal terms

Conference Dinner

The Conference Dinner will be held at the Cordis Hotel, 83 Symonds Street, Grafton, Auckland.

Pre-dinner drinks and canapés commence at 7pm. Guests are asked to move into the dining area at 7.30pm and be seated. Our dinner speaker this year is David Hallowes SC.

The dress code for the dinner is black tie.

Len Andersen KC Moot – Friday 31 July 2026

The national finals of the Len Andersen KC moot, the CBA's moot for law students, will be held as part of the Conference. The six law schools in the country have been holding internal rounds to select a team to represent them. As in previous iterations, the students are mooting a case that is about to be argued in the Supreme Court, this year the important sentencing case of R v Churchward, involving the test for exceptional circumstances to avoid a life sentence for murder and the procedural point of whether time should be extended by a significant period.

Preliminary moots to narrow the 6 teams down to 4 semi-finalists will commence at 2:30pm. The Semi-Finals will be at 5:00pm and the Final at 6:00pm. This will all take place at AUT City Campus in Building WF, on the corner of Wakefield Street and Mayoral Drive, which is just a short walk from the Cordis Hotel, the Conference Hotel. Further information can be obtained from Kris Gledhill, kris.gledhill@aut.ac.nz. Volunteers to be involved in judging the preliminary moots or the semi-finals should get in touch, please. The winners will be announced at the dinner.

Pricing 

All pricing below includes GST.   

To receive the members rate for the conference please ensure that you have renewed your membership.  To renew your membership please click here.

Sponsors

This year's conference is sponsored by LexisNexis