Fluoride Action Network (NZ) Inc v Hastings District Council - [2024] NZHC 1313
Date of Judgment
24 May 2024
Decision
Fluoride Action Network (NZ) Inc v Hastings District Council (PDF 262 KB)
Summary
Fluoride Free New Zealand and NZ Doctors Speaking Out with Science (NZDSOS) applied for directions/orders that the reintroduction of fluoride into the Hastings District Council urban water supply in April 2024 was unlawful, unreasonable, and in contravention of the right to refuse medical treatment.
This case was not about fluoridating water in Aotearoa New Zealand, or whether such fluoridation is a justified limit on the right to refuse medical treatment.
Held: Complying with a direction that has been ruled valid but is being reconsidered due to an error of law, cannot be presumptively unlawful.
Held: The interpretation the applicants' contended for (to read in a discretion to the mandatory statutory language of compliance) could not be sustained. Neither s 6 of the Bill of the Rights as applied by the Supreme Court in Fitzgerald or the principle of legality, allowed for this interpretation.
Held: it was rational and reasonable for Hastings District Council to not seek an extension to the period of compliance, and for the Director-General to not offer such extensions unilaterally.
This case was not about fluoridating water in Aotearoa New Zealand, or whether such fluoridation is a justified limit on the right to refuse medical treatment.
Held: Complying with a direction that has been ruled valid but is being reconsidered due to an error of law, cannot be presumptively unlawful.
Held: The interpretation the applicants' contended for (to read in a discretion to the mandatory statutory language of compliance) could not be sustained. Neither s 6 of the Bill of the Rights as applied by the Supreme Court in Fitzgerald or the principle of legality, allowed for this interpretation.
Held: it was rational and reasonable for Hastings District Council to not seek an extension to the period of compliance, and for the Director-General to not offer such extensions unilaterally.