Story perspectives

Supreme Court Declares Courts Unfit to Set Climate Policy

8/6/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Wellington Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Sir Richard Wild citing the 1688 settlement, struck the application, ruling courts lack expertise and democratic legitimacy for climate-change regulation.
Bishop told the Auckland Law Association that Parliament alone should set climate policy via the Climate Change Response Act, not courts.
He criticised Parliament’s recent drafting as passive and called for clearer, more deliberate statutes to fix misguided laws.

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Story summary

The Wellington Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Sir Richard Wild citing the 1688 settlement, struck the application, ruling courts lack expertise and democratic legitimacy for climate-change regulation.
Bishop told the Auckland Law Association that Parliament alone should set climate policy via the Climate Change Response Act, not courts.
He criticised Parliament’s recent drafting as passive and called for clearer, more deliberate statutes to fix misguided laws.