The Supreme Court of New Zealand today issued a press release insisting it has already delivered a decision in Attorney-General v Taylor SC65/2017.
“You must not have received it,” said Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias. “We’ve been having some problems with our Outlook.”
The Court heard the case, which deals with important constitutional issues of prisoner voting rights and the ability of the courts to grant declarations of inconsistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, over two days in March 2018. Since that time the decision has been eagerly awaited by the government, Parliament, academics and lawyers.
“The fact is that the Court has delivered a judgment, and definitely sent it to you all. It’s weird that you didn’t get it but that’s ultimately not our fault,” Elias CJ continued.
When pressed on the outcome of the case, William Young J stated he “couldn’t remember” and “it’s not that important anyway, I’d just forget about it if I were you. It might have got lost in the post or something.”
When asked whether a further copy of the judgment could be provided a Supreme Court spokesperson said that the court was having printer difficulties at the moment.
Strictly obiter 