Pawson said the way the military had been deployed could be legally challenged.

It did not respond by deadline to questions on whether any military personnel, as enforcement officers at isolation facilities, had exercised their new powers.A member of the NZ Defence Force at the Novotel Ellerslie isolation hotel in Auckland.After nearly two weeks of isolation at Naumi Hotel in Auckland in June, Richard Davis chats to an Able Rating from the Royal New Zealand Navy (File photo).Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern boosts military staff numbers at Covid-19 isolation facilities.Te Puke lawyer David Pawson would be happy to take on the case of someone charged for disobeying a direction of a member of the military under new Covid powers.Two Navy personnel outside the SO/ Auckland isolation facility on August 20, the day after the Government announced 500 extra Defence Force personnel would be deployed to managed isolation facilities.2 new cases of Covid-19 in the community ... read more

Bill Hodge, an honorary academic at the University of Auckland law faculty, has reviewed Pawson's reasoning and believes he is onto something. Legal experts are questioning new powers wielded by the military under coronavirus legislation. The finding, by three judges of the High Court, followed a challenge by Wellington lawyer Andrew Borrowdale’s to three parts of the lockdown rules. Bloomfield's authorisation was made in accordance with Section 18 of the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act. The Defence Force said that meant its personnel could But a lawyer and ex-serviceman believes the order granting the military its new powers was David Pawson, of Te Puke, spent 12 years as a senior police prosecutor and was a member of the New Zealand Military Police Special Investigation Branch.

Legal experts are questioning new powers wielded by the military under An academic says they are “ripe” for a legal challenge, while a military law expert says director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield went beyond his authority in granting the powers. Hodge said the order, which represented a new way of using the military arm to assist the civilian arm, is “ripe” for a legal test. A member of the NZ Defence Force at the Novotel Ellerslie isolation hotel in Auckland.

“Then the Crown has the burden of proving every element of the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and thus the Crown needs to prove all the definitions and the superiority of the [Act].” A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said members of the armed forces sign a letter of engagement and enter into a relationship of service when they join up. The Ministry of Health maintains the order is legally compliant. There is nothing new about the use of military staff for civil assistance, as happens during natural disasters. But Pawson said the use of the Defence Force in an “enforcement officer” role, as under the Covid-19 Act, was a new development. ED Advanced Pack - the ultimate combo with 10 pills each of Viagra 100mg, Cialis 10mg and Levitra 20mg. During the 1951 waterfront dispute thousands of service personnel worked on the wharves or in transport or cool stores during strikes. Legal academic Hodge said unlike Borrowdale, who mounted an expensive high court action, Pawson could choose a client who had been arrested and charged with obstructing a military service member under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act. But the armed forces are not employed by the Crown, Instead, legally they are employed by the Governor-General in New Zealand on behalf of the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, per Pawson said the result is the NZDF are under and in the name of the Sovereign, not the Crown. That section lets the director-general authorise a suitably qualified and trained person “employed or engaged by the Crown or a Crown entity” to be an enforcement officer under the Act. “The Ministry regards the order as legally compliant.” The NZDF referred questions on the legality of the new powers to the Ministry of Health. “I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that Dr Bloomfield will position himself for a coup d'etat, and that I have the utmost faith that the NZDF will perform what is asked of them to the safe and high standard we have come to expect.” “Enforcement powers over the civilian population is for civilian authorities, for good historical reasons. This is subject to very specific protocols, and doing so must be an admission the New Zealand police cannot perform the required function, Pawson said.