This Wednesday, 19th April, the New Zealand High Court of Appeal will hear NZTSOS’s challenge to Justice Cooke’s unpopular ruling on the Education Mandates last April.

NZTSOS Says Vaccine Mandates have set a Dangerous Precedent.

The future of the New Zealand Bill of Rights is on the line for all New Zealanders. This is the view of New Zealand Teachers Speaking Out With Science Incorporated (NZTSOS). “Last year Justice Cooke ruled the vaccine mandates in the health and education sector were a justifiable breach of the human rights for workers in those sectors. Our position is that he erred in law on at least four grounds, and we get to present those grounds to the Court of Appeal on Wednesday,” said Mike Shaw, spokesperson for NZTSOS.

Shaw went on to say, “It’s important that the ruling of Justice Cooke is overturned. Otherwise, the legal precedent is set in place allowing future governments to enforce medical treatment on whole sections of the population on the so-called advice of medical experts.”

The appeal will be heard before three judges, the Honourable Justices Gilbert, Collins and Goddard in Wellington.

“Justice Cooke heard our case in the earlier judicial review. Like all of us, he is human. He got it wrong. The vaccine mandates were a breach of human rights. That is why in a free and democratic country, we have the opportunity to go to the Court of Appeal to correct this mistake.” says Shaw.

Lawyers Jones and Kiel, representing the Minister for Covid-19 Response and Others, will respond to the arguments of NZTSOS.

“Courts are reluctant to rule against the government when governments declare emergency powers, but this is exactly why we need them to. Otherwise, we have a situation of unbridled power without accountability. The nature of this hearing means we can’t introduce new evidence to the courtroom BUT the evidence emerging shows that the breach of section 11 of the Bill of Rights, ‘the right to refuse medical treatment’ was not justified, and this must be corrected. Those government officials who overstepped during this time need to be held to account.”

NZTSOS has sought the representation of Frontline Law for this appeal. They successfully challenged the NZDF and Police mandate.

Shaw also stated, “We believe in a democratic society. The Justice System is not an instrument of the government but, acting independently, must ensure the government of the day stays within the law and the rights of the individual are upheld. Cooke got it wrong.”

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