133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
30 August 2024
Sarah
By email: [FYI request #27507 email]
Ref:
H2024046481
Tēnā koe Sarah
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) transferred from
Crown Law – Te Tari Ture o te Karauna to the Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry)
on 15 July 2024 for information relating to the Bill of Rights Act (BoRA) assessments and vetting
documents. You requested:
“Can you please provide all BORA assessments/vetting documents, or any documents
referencing these, that relate to Covid-19 vaccination mandates.”
A number of documents were prepared which included BoRA advice. A summary of the BORA
advice is provided below that is drawn from the paper
Briefing: COVID-19 Public Health
Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 for signature. Please note, some information is withheld
under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of natural persons. I have considered the
countervailing public interest in release and consider that it does not outweigh the need to
withhold at this time. The summary is provided in accordance with section 16(1)(e) of the Act
and is a representative summary of advice provided:
• Before making the proposed s 11 order, the Minister must be satisfied that there is a
robust and credible public health rationale to justify limiting the rights and freedoms of
high-risk workers affirmed by the New Zealand Bil of Rights Act 1990. The fact that
vaccination benefits the personal health of those vaccinated is irrelevant for this
purpose.
• We understand the Ministry of Health considers there is a public health rationale for
requiring specified high-risk work only be undertaken by vaccinated people in response
to the current pandemic. This is because there is a risk that those individuals may be
exposed to, and infected by, COVID-19 in the course of their work and may transmit the
virus into the community.
• They consider vaccination of high-risk workers wil material y reduce this risk, and other
less-intrusive measures have failed to do so. Based on the Ministry of Health’s public
health advice the Crown Law Office is of the opinion that requiring vaccinated people to
fulfil high risk roles is a justified limitation of the right to refuse to undertake medical
treatment (s 11) and of discrimination (s 19). Crown Law Office’s advice is reliant on
public health advice, and it is the quality of that public health advice that would likely
determine any challenge in a Court.
As you may know, there have been several legal proceedings regarding whether the
vaccination mandates were consistent with BoRA. As part of these proceedings, the Crown has
provided evidence setting out the BoRA consideration applied by decision makers. Decisions
setting out this evidence provided by the Crown and the Crown’s BoRA justification in significant
detail are already publicly available, for example:
workspace___SpacesStore_6da9015b_a976_4ce0_8f85_7b34a40405f2.pdf (justice.govt.nz),
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel
free to contact the OIA Services Team on:
[email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Manatū Hauora website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Phil Knipe
Chief Legal Advisor
Government and Executive Services | Te Pou Whakatere Kāwanatanga
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