Legalise Cannabis Again | Re-Legalise It

If a cop “smells weed” in the air and appears to be preparing a full search, pull out this handy pre-printed interim injunction form done in the format the courts expect and serve the police right then and there ideally on camera!

When before the judge, force him to reply to the question asking to let costs lie. This is in the law as something the judge can choose so in theory you can ask him to consider it early on, and appeal it in 20 days if not.

Another idea I am examining, is a pre-emptive injunction. This would involve an interogatory with a member of the system to ask the following questions carefully, and in the exact order prescribed, gaining a “yes” answer to each as you go:

• Some religions such as Rastafarianism are known to promote the consumption of cannabis is this true?
• And while it’s not true to say that all Rastafarians smoke cannabis, but that it’s reasonable to assume that perhaps majority of them do so is this also true?
• Could it be stated your honour that, in the general population and the police force, there is stereotyping or an association or  between Rastafarianism and consumption of cannabis in the general population is this true? If challenged, bring up the subject of Bob Marley, relevant in that he was a major figure in music, but also the best known Rastafarian in history at the present time is this true?

The judge can order for security deposit of costs of failure, so for a pre-emptive injunction an indication of the size of this security would be a smart first move.

General requirements

Before preparing a form, check whether a High Court Rule applies. The relevant rule number appears at the top of each form. If a rule applies, you must comply with it.

• coversheet compliant with form G1 of the High Court Rules
• first document filed must have a memorandum compliant with G10
• All documents must comply with Part 5: Subpart 2 of the High Court Rules
• See: http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/high-court/self-represented-litigants/documents-1#general-requirements

Formal requirements for documents

Take care, subpart 2-5.2 on non-complying documents says a document that does not comply with rules 5.3 to 5.16 may be received for filing only by leave of a Judge or the Registrar.

Costs and Disbursements

Here you open yourself to not only your own legal costs – which are called disbursements – but to the opposing sides legal costs incurred by your injunction:

The cost of an application under subclause (1) must be borne by the party making it, and may not be claimed as costs against another party under Part 14.

However, it’s not that bad, you can ask the judge to order that costs lie where they fall, so no party is ordered to pay for the costs of the other (that is, the parties pay their own costs) if the injunction fails.

If you are the successful party, you cannot claim costs such as loss of income due to time taken off work to prepare for the proceeding. However, you can claim disbursements.