Weiss & Ors v Police - [2026] NZHC 68

Application for leave to appeal on questions of law arising in District Court Judge alone trials resulting in convictions on charges under Trespass Act 1980. Convictions relate to protest occupation of pontoon in marine construction zone.

HELD:

1. The holder of a coastal permit issued under the Resource Management Act 1991 can lawfully exclude the entire public when reasonably necessary for the permit's purpose, including persons asserting entitlement to occupy the area as a matter of tikanga.

2. The District Court Judge's factual finding that ii was reasonably necessary to exclude the public from the pontoon within the construction zone not so clearly untenable as to amount to an error of law.

3. Any mistake by the appellants about whether they were entitled as a matter of tikanga to occupy the construction zone was a mistake in law rather than fact, incapable of giving rise to a defence of honest belief in facts or circumstances which would make their presence lawful.

RESULT: leave granted, proposed questions reframed under s 299 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 and answered. Convictions upheld.