The High Court of New Zealand has dismissed an application for judicial review of climate data published by a government-owned research institute. The challenge was brought by the New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust, which is affiliated with the NZ Climate Science Coalition, a group whose website states that they are “concerned at the misleading information being disseminated about climate change and so-called anthropogenic (man-made) global warming.” The Trust alleged that each set of data which had been published departed from “recognized scientific opinion” or contained “obvious deficiencies.” While he accepted that, in principle, decisions of the research institute could be subject to judicial review, Justice Geoffrey Venning dismissed the application. He held that courts should give considerable deference to specialist agencies in relation to their areas of expertise, and that on the facts of the case the research institute had used credible scientific methods to carry out its work and there was no basis for judicial review.
CCCL has prepared a summary of the decision.
The full text of the decision can be accesssed here.
