Career criminal Arthur William Taylor is challenging the smoking ban inside prisons.
Flanked by four prison guards, Taylor invoked the Bill of Rights Act among others as he told the High Court at Auckland that prisons had not put aside extra funding to help smokers quit.
He told the court one prisoner had self-harmed as a direct result of the smoking ban and lost three litres of blood.
"It is one of the only decisions that has any real importance to anyone in prison.''
Taylor - who was last year sentenced to a further seven years jail for his involvement in a P-ring inside Paremoremo Prison - said smoking was "virtually'' a common law right and everyone in New Zealand was able to smoke in their homes.
Counsel assisting the court, Gillian Coumbe, said the case was not about the courts deciding whether smoking was good or bad but whether the ban was lawful.
She said the smoking ban affected all prisoners, including those not convicted. The ban is also around the clock and covers all parts of the prison, including outdoor yards.
Ms Coumbe said while those on the outside were banned from smoking in restaurants and workplaces, they were free to smoke when they were at home.
"It is important to acknowledge that a prison cell is the home of the prisoner who resides there.''
She said prisoners caught smoking could face seven days' loss of earnings or seven days confined to their cell.
Ms Coumbe said while overseas courts in Canada and the United States had upheld prison smoking bans, New Zealand was capable of making its own decision.
Taylor has previous convictions including armed robbery, escape and kidnapping.
He was infamous for a string of armed robberies and for prison breaks, including one in 1998 that led to an armed cordon around an large area of the Coromandel.
He and the other escapers - including double murderer Graeme Burton - were found in a plush holiday home with an extensive wine cellar, which they had pillaged. Detectives found the men had stacked the fridge with red wine.
The hearing before Justice Murray Gilbert continues.
