Chandima DuttonNov 21, 2022
Frederik Borgesius
‘Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said the New Zealand government will draft legislation to change the voting age to 16, after a landmark supreme court ruling that the existing age of 18 was discriminatory and breached the human rights of young people.’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/21/voting-age-of-18-is-discriminatory-new-zealand-supreme-court-rules That’s quite a far-reaching judgment of the court.
Ardern promises bill to lower voting age to 16 in New Zealand after discrimination ruling

Legislative move, which faces significant hurdles in parliament, follows judges’ ruling that the existing age of 18 breaches young people’s human rights

The Guardian
Nov 21, 2022 at 7:38amWeb
Show threadFrederik BorgesiusNov 22, 2022
About that New Zeeland case. The power of the Supreme Court seems to be more limited than I thought. ‘Like the UK, parliament in New Zealand is supreme. Even if the courts decide parliament’s laws disagree with the Bill of Rights Act, the democratic body is able to tell the court to stick to complex tax cases, thanks. Nothing handcuffs parliament, nothing is above it.’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/22/new-zealands-supreme-court-has-forced-voting-age-onto-agenda-exposing-absurd-arguments-for-status-quo NB: I know hardly anything about national law there.
New Zealand’s supreme court has forced voting age on to agenda, exposing absurd arguments for status quo

The newly empowered supreme court has blown up the long-running debate on youth voting, but parliament has shrugged off its intervention

The Guardian
Show threadchicagonzNov 22, 2022

@Frederik_Borgesius

Probably safe to say that it is still closer to English law than Scots law is, albeit with a history of diverging in a number of areas around human rights (for the better) in the 1980s.

Show threadFrederik BorgesiusNov 22, 2022
@chicagonz Sounds plausible to me. For me, all common law is a bit exotic :)
Show threadchicagonzNov 22, 2022

@Frederik_Borgesius
This one still seems to be on the NZ books and it dates from 1275 🤔

https://www8.austlii.edu.au/nz/legis/consol_act/sowtf1275387/

Statutes of Westminster; The First 1275

Show threadFrederik BorgesiusNov 22, 2022
@chicagonz Ha ha
Show threadHadewychNov 21, 2022
@Frederik_Borgesius verbazend dat het discriminatieverbod zo absoluut wordt geinterpreteerd dat geen enkel onderscheid meer gerechtvaardigd zou zijn. Dat wordt lastig beleid maken dan.
Show threadFrederik BorgesiusNov 21, 2022
@Hadewych Opmerkelijk inderdaad. Maar ik heb het arrest zelf niet gelezen, dus ik weet de redenering van het hof niet. Ik ga ervan uit dat veel soorten onderscheid mogelijk blijven daar.