On 17 December 2025 the High Court of New Zealand delivered *Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa Inc v Minister of Health* [2025] NZHC 4045.
What the Court did. PATHA sought interim orders to suspend or repeal the incoming regulations. The Court declined to direct the Minister to suspend or repeal them. It did declare that the Crown should take no steps to enforce the regulations until the substantive judicial review is determined, and it directed that the review be heard with urgency.
The instruments were still due to come into force on 19 December 2025 (see the 19 December post). They were not quashed. Enforcement by the Crown is paused. The Court of Appeal later recorded that this order has, in effect, suspended enforcement ([2026] NZCA 8).
Official sources
- High Court judgment PDF: 2025-NZHC-4045.pdf
- Court of Appeal [2026] NZCA 8 (PDF): 2026-NZCA-8.pdf
- Regulations: LI 2025/256 and LI 2025/302