John Bell: New Zealand’s Constitutional Crisis - Where to for Treaty Principles?

With the recent defeat of the Treaty Principles Bill, New Zaland faces a constitutional crisis. With the exception of the ACT Party’s MPs, every Member of the House voted to reject both the principle that our democratically elected Parliament is sovereign and the principle that all New Zealand citizens have the same equal status before the law. Worse, the Prime Minister has specifically stated that there was nothing in the Bill that he supported.

Gary Judd KC: No jurisdiction for Supreme Court MACA 'judgment'

Earlier today, The Capital Letter, New Zealand’s review of administration, legislation and law, published my article explaining why the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to deliver its so called “Judgment of the Court.” Put in less formal terms, the Court had no power to do what it did. I addressed the same issue in SUPREME COURT INTO THE POLITICAL ARENA AGAIN, but at greater length and with a focus on what the government and Parliament should do. This later, shorter article focuses on what the Supreme Court itself should do.