Friday, June 03, 2011



Bring it on

Earlier this week anti-abortion group Right to Life lost their challenge to abortion laws in the Court of Appeal. Their claim was so meritless that costs were awarded against them - something they say they can not afford. But despite this, they are apparently looking at doubling down, and appealing to the Supreme Court.

Bring it on. I'm confident that the Court of Appeal's strict statutory interpretation exercise will be upheld on appeal (assuming the Supreme Court even agrees to hear the case, which it may not). I'm especially confident because of the criticisms levelled at RTL's pleadings by the Court, which found them to be "rather prolix and lack[ing] focus or specificity", failing to present evidence to back its case, more polemic than pleading. Its highly unusual for a court to criticise a pleading in this manner, and it suggests that RTL's lawyer (apparently a QC) was either incompetent or acting under instruction from one. Either way, it doesn't bode well for their chances of a successful appeal. Meanwhile, the more money they waste flogging this dead horse, the greater the chance that they'll be driven into bankruptcy. Though maybe they think god will provide for their stupidity?