New Court A Constitutional Outrage Says NZ First

New Zealand First has warned the Government that it will commit a constitutional outrage if it abandons the Privy Council and establishes a local supreme court as the final court for New Zealanders.

Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters said today that the Labour-led minority Government had no right to overthrow 160 years of legal history and he called on other political parties to reject legislation for the new court.

“The Privy Council is a court of excellence. Its judges are found from a population of 80 million people and they have exceptionally high standards of legal expertise and wisdom.

“New Zealand’s judges are continually improving but as yet cannot match the excellence of the Privy Council. As well, the commercial community needs it to maintain some sort of international standing in business dealings.”

Mr Peters said the Attorney-General Margaret Wilson had no practical legal experience and had not consulted other political parties, the legal profession or the Law Society.

“We hold grave fears that the Government is ending the political independence of the courts because its past record shows it will appoint politically correct judicial activists to its new court.

“You only have to listen to the new Race Relations Commissioner to understand what will happen. New Zealanders have everything to fear and nothing to gain from this manipulation of a tried and true legal system.”

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