This week, the Government moved to reassert Parliament’s authority over the courts. Two years ago, in Smith versus Fonterra, the Supreme Court revived a climate change claim the Court of Appeal had unanimously struck out.
The claim included a proposed new tort of “damage to the climate system” recognised by no court anywhere in the common law world. I wrote at the time that the court had appropriated a role that belonged to Parliament.
To read the article on the NZ Herald website, click here.