LEX & LORE Episode 4: Drive-By Surveillance | Desperately Seeking a Platform for Repugnant Opinions | Borrowdale & the First 9 Days of Lockdown

Synopsis

Welsh police acquire digital images of Mr Bridges face while he is in Cardiff central city, and later at a protest. Facial recognition software extracts Mr Bridges' facial biometric information in real time and compares it with the information of persons on specific watchlists. Is this type of activity moving into a "search" by the state, even though the expectation of privacy in a public space is low? How would this play out in New Zealand?

A pair of international speakers with racially offensive views have their speaking event at a public venue cancelled...were they discriminated against on the basis of "political opinion"?

The government directs New Zealanders to stay at home during lockdown using language that sits somewhere between the truly voluntary and the directly coercive...regardless of the efficacy in response to a global pandemic, how are we to understand the lawfulness of the government's directions in the first 9 days of lockdown?


About the Guests

Dr Nessa Lynch, Associate Professor, Victoria University of Wellington
Specialises in criminal law, New Zealand Law Reports, discretion, youth justice and police action.

Dr Eddie Clark, Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington
Areas of interest include Judicial review, administrative law, courts and democracy/public accountability.

Dr Dean Knight, Associate Professor, Victoria University of Wellington
Specialises in Constitutional law, administrative law, judicial review and local government


Cases Discussed:

R (on the application of Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police [2020] EWCA Civ 1058
Lexis Advance^® link: https://advance.lexis.com/document/index?crid=bde935bc-6c5d-4f4b-ba03-1ac8d47f8469&pdpermalink=f99c97a5-be4e-4b97-a173-faa5b98def6d&pdmfid=1230042&pdisurlapi=true

Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Ltd [2019] 3 NZLR 433; [2019] NZHC 2399
Lexis Advance^® link: https://advance.lexis.com/document/onecase?crid=1e6c75ff-4de5-434a-ab8c-84dff6885d9a&pdpermalink=4f3b16a9-45f3-44fa-8580-ba19e96b6fd8&pdmfid=1230042&pdisurlapi=true

Borrowdale v Director-General of Health [2020] NZHC 2090
Lexis Advance^® link: https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/fd93e40a-033b-4a3b-9d3b-07d0ab568f3c/?context=1230042