Bill of Rights
Sir,—When Mr Philip Joseph, a senior lecturer in law at Canterbury University (“The Press,” July 19) commented that “Parliamentary privilege originated with article nine of the Bill of Rights in Britain in 1688 which says that ‘The freedom of speech... in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament,' ” he almost exposes a secret. That is, we already have a Bill of Rights that still applies to New Zealand. The innumerable laws already on the statute books guaranteeing the rights and protection of New Zealand citizens make any new Bill of Rights unnecessary. Numerous provisions in the proposed new bill allow for conflicting interpretations of present law. It is destabilising and undemocratic that the courts would be able to use the new bill, if it becomes law, as a counter to pre-existent laws without the matter being argued out beforehand in Parliament.—Yours, etc., CHRIS CHASTON. July 22, 1985.
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Press, 25 July 1985, Page 12
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159Bill of Rights Press, 25 July 1985, Page 12
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