NZ Defence Vaccination Mandate Unlawful Ruling Upheld by Court

New Zealand’s Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling against the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) over the legality of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate imposed during the pandemic. Announced in November 2021, a government public health order required unvaccinated NZ defence and police staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before March 1, 2022, or likely face termination. The order affected around 300 of the over 30,000 staff across the agencies. Action was initiated on the Jan. 6, 2022, by three unvaccinated NZDF staff with affidavits from other service personnel whose goal was to action the court to compose a judicial review of the mandate. The applicants challenged the Order on four grounds, including that the Health order was inconsistent with legislation such as the Defence Act 1990 and the Policing Act 2008, that the order disproportionately affected Māori and was inconsistent with Treaty of Waitangi principles, and that it was an unjustified limit on rights....