Utter stupidity

It's like that because the guy who wrote was working on the Saturday before Christmas, it was 1:30pm and he wanted to go home. He didn't set his object references up right, so there's probably a "Button submitButton = new Button();" line or simlar missing.

Doesn't make them any less cretinous, and in fact probably makes them moreso, but that's your reason. That should be the first test before release, and definately the first test AFTER release.