Voxy: Precedent-setting case on TPPA secrecy in Court tomorrow

The secrecy of the TPP is being challenged in court in New Zealand.  Rules affecting the net should not be made in secret. Speak out now at http://om4.me/ZZe Article by Fuseworks Media for Voxy Tomorrow, the High Court in Wellington will hear an application for judicial review of Trade Minister Tim Groser’s blanket refusal to release information relating to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) sought under the Official Information Act.

The secrecy of the TPP is being challenged in court in New Zealand.  Rules affecting the net should not be made in secret. Speak out now at http://om4.me/ZZe

Article by Fuseworks Media for Voxy

Tomorrow, the High Court in Wellington will hear an application for judicial review of Trade Minister Tim Groser’s blanket refusal to release information relating to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) sought under the Official Information Act.

Professor Jane Kelsey, who made the initial request back in January, says the case will remain important even if ministers from the twelve countries reach an accord in Atlanta this week.

‘The government insists that no substantive changes can be made to agreement once negotiations are concluded. But New Zealanders, including MPs, need access to background information to assess the implications of the Agreement, hold the government to account, and pressure it not to exercise its executive power of ratification’.

The case is precedent setting in several ways. It will be the first time the courts have given a definitive interpretation of certain provisions of the Official Information Act. The ruling will be relevant to future requests involving similar kinds of trade and investment negotiations and to the application of the Act more generally.

The other applicants supporting the case are Consumer NZ, Ngati Kahungunu, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), and the Tertiary Education Union (TEU).

Executive Director of ASMS, Ian Powell, observes that "without transparency and a proper level of disclosure, there is a highly likelihood that New Zealand’s high quality public health service will be seriously eroded to the detriment of patients, their families and taxpaying citizens. We support this application for judicial review because the public interest requires this level of disclosure."

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