New Zealand lockdown legal challenge dismissed, but appeal expected
Two men who sued New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern over the country’s coronavirus lockdown have had their case dismissed for a second time.
The men plan to continue legal action and will seek leave to appeal to the country’s Supreme Court, a ruling released on Tuesday said.
The lawsuit alleged that New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic had subjected them to “unlawful detention.”
In April, the men, who cannot yet be named for legal reasons, requested a writ of habeas corpus, which seeks to rule an imprisonment unlawful and release the applicants.
The case was then dismissed in the High Court, and the men appealed the ruling.
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At the Court of Appeal hearing on Friday, judges Stephen Kos, David Collins and Christine French ruled the restrictions imposed by the lockdown “do not involve restrictions upon the liberty of A and B.”
Collins said while there were unresolved questions about the lawfulness of the notices issued for the lockdown, an application for habeas corpus was not the appropriate context to consider the allegations. (dpa)
