Chief Ombudsman’s statement on High Court TPPA
Decision
Date: 13 October
2015
The High Court’s decision released today
requiring the Minister of Trade to reconsider his decision
relating to Professor Jane Kelsey’s request for
information about the TPPA relates only to the decision
making process followed by the Minister.
As the judgment
makes clear, the Court was not concerned with the merits of
the Minister’s decision or the Chief Ombudsman’s report
following her independent investigation and review.
The
Court made no finding on whether the Official Information
Act provided proper grounds for refusal of Professor
Kelsey’s request. The Court declined to make the
declarations sought by the plaintiff and instead quashed the
Minister’s decision and directed him to reconsider
Professor Kelsey’s original request.
Any suggestion that
the Court passed judgement on the merits of the Chief
Ombudsman’s decision is
incorrect.
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