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02 August 2024 / Steve Foster
Issue: 8082 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
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Civil servants & the law: when laws collide

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Steve Foster examines the duty of civil servants to obey the law—but which one?
  • The Civil Service Code requires civil servants to comply with the law—but in certain circumstances, such as implementing a minister’s decision to remove a migrant to Rwanda, this duty is not clear cut.
  • This article examines recent decisions that shed light on our legal system and constitution, and their relationship with international law and accepted principles of constitutionalism.

What happens if a civil servant is asked to perform an Act, but that Act is inconsistent with international law and the decision of an international court? The answer might lie in the civil servant’s contract, but if that says that they must comply with ‘the law’, then we are no further ahead. Alternatively, we might need to look at our constitutional system, asking whether a minister has the legal power to issue the order, and what happens when that legal power is inconsistent with international law.

A recent decision of the High Court (R

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