The plaintiff in Lawson also referred to the right to life, contained in s 8 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, arguing that charging market rents without regard to affordability or the impact on tenants’ living standards was in breach of this right. Although the plaintiff was unsuccessful in that case, the right to life could be interpreted to encompass issues of dignity and homelessness. Some countries have taken this broad approach to the right to life, and the Tenancy Tribunal has very recently referred to it in a case about the new Healthy Homes standards.iv In the event of ambiguity, courts are bound to interpret national law in conformity with New Zealand’s binding international obligations. However, without a significant change in New Zealand law and practice, it is unlikely the courts will be able to provide effective, accessible accountability in relation to the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which underscores how important it is to put in place other forms of accountability for this critically important human right. In this report, our focus is not judicial accountability. Rather, we favour an administrative justice approach to the right to a decent home, informed by the letter and spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.20 iv 14 See the subsection below Tenancy Services and Tenancy Tribunal. Human Rights Commission Human Rights Commission The Human Rights Commission provides free mediation and dispute resolution for complaints of discrimination. Individuals can complain to the Commission if they consider they have experienced unlawful discrimination, including in housing. Some cases may be referred to the Office of Human Rights Proceedings (OHRP), which is an independent part of the Human Rights Commission. OHRP can provide free legal representation for complaints of unlawful discrimination and take cases to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. In 2019, for example, the Tribunal heard a case about discrimination against a potential tenant because she was blind and reliant on a guide dog. The Tribunal agreed she had suffered unlawful discrimination.21 These free mediation and legal services uphold one element of the right to a decent home: the right not to be discriminated against in the provision of housing. The Commission is not legally empowered to provide the same services for the numerous other features of the right to a decent home, such as insecurity of tenure and sub-standard housing conditions. Tenancy Services and Tenancy Tribunal Tenancy Services has powers to monitor and enforce compliance under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Its Compliance and Investigation Team investigates alleged breaches and carries out proactive visits. The Team’s compliance tools include formal warnings, enforceable undertakings, and improvement and infringement notices. It may also bring proceedings in the Tenancy Tribunal.