Claim Parliament has no power fails to get man out of WoF conviction

File photo / NZ Herald

A man who argued the New Zealand Parliament had no power to enact legislation and therefore could not prosecute him for failing to have a Warrant of Fitness has failed in his latest legal action.

Allister Patrick Brooker applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal against his conviction.

He had earlier been convicted in the Greymouth District Court of a charge of failing to display evidence of a vehicle inspection, a recent Court of Appeal ruling said.

He appealed against the decision to the High Court, but it was dismissed.

Brooker did not challenge the evidence given by police in support of the charge in the High Court.

But he said the Land Transport Act was unlawful and Parliament had no authority to enact it, the decision said.

Brooker argued that the declaration of full sovereignty over New Zealand by Lieutenant-General William Hobson in 1840 was on behalf of the British Crown, and only it had sovereignty.

"The courts have consistently held that challenges to the sovereignty of Parliament, and validity of Acts of Parliament (whether in the context of Maori sovereignty arguments, or any other challenge to the sovereignty of the New Zealand Parliament) cannot succeed," the decision said.

Brooker applied for leave to appeal five days out of time.

The Court granted an extension of time, but dismissed his application for leave.