Both parties agreed that at the time the "Marriage Act 1955" was written in the 1950s, marriage according to the common law was between one man and one woman, which explains why the Act did not specifically outlaw same-sex marriage. The applicants argued, however, that under the "Human Rights Act 1993", which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, and sections 6 ("Interpretation consistent with Bill of Rights to be preferred") and 19 ("Freedom from discrimination") of the "Bill of Rights Act 1990", New Zealand prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and, therefore, the applicants should be allowed to marry. The government in response cited section 5 ("Justified limitations") of the "Bill of Rights Act", which allows rights and freedoms in the "Bill of Rights" to "be subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". In its decision, the High Court sided with the government and common law and reiterated that marriage is between one man and one woman.