The Constitution Act 1986 is an Act of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

that forms a major part of the

constitution of New Zealand The constitution of New Zealand is the sum of law of New Zealand, laws and principles that determine the political governance of New Zealand. Unlike many other nations, New Zealand has no single constitutional document. It is an uncodified const ...

. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles of governance, and establishes the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state. It outlines the roles and duties of the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

, the

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

and judges. The Act repealed and replaced the

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 ( 15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such act, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 not ...

and the Statute of Westminster, and removed the ability of the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

to pass laws for New Zealand with the consent of the New Zealand Parliament.

Background

1984 constitutional crisis

After the 1984 election there was an awkward transfer of power from the outgoing

Third National government Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

to the new

Fourth Labour government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990 (the period up to 8 August 1989 is also called the Lange Government). It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term si ...

in the midst of a financial crisis. Outgoing Prime Minister Sir

Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...

was unwilling initially to accept instructions from incoming Prime Minister

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...

to devalue the currency. Ministers hurriedly constructed an argument to convince Muldoon to comply, drawing on the ethos of past transitions, as there was no convention. Eventually he relented, but only after his own party caucus had threatened to replace him. A press statement was made on 17 June outlining the behaviour of outgoing governments, which was dubbed the "

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

convention". An Officials Committee on Constitutional Reform was established by the Labour Government to review New Zealand's constitutional law, and the Constitution Act resulted from two reports by this committee. The issue of the transfer of power from outgoing to incoming governments (and hence prime ministers) was not resolved by this Act, however, and the transfer of

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

powers remains a matter of unwritten constitutional conventions.

Committee's report

The Officials Committee on Constitutional Reform reported back to Parliament during February 1986. The Committee recommended that New Zealand adopt an Act to restate various constitutional provisions in a single enactment that would replace the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, thus "patriating" the Constitution Act to New Zealand. The recommendation followed events in Canada, which had recently patriated its own constitution, and Australia, which had recently removed any residual power of the British parliament to legislate in Australia. The Canadian Parliament began the process by passing the

Constitution Act, 1982 The ''Constitution Act, 1982'' () is a part of the Constitution of Canada.Formally enacted as Schedule B of the '' Canada Act 1982'', enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 60 of the ''Constitution Act, 1982'' states that t ...

, and the British Parliament had renounced its right to pass legislation on behalf of Canada in the

Canada Act 1982 The Canada Act 1982 (1982 c. 11) () is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and one of the enactments which make up the Constitution of Canada. It was enacted at the request of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada to patriate ...

. The Australian Parliament passed the

Australia Act 1986 The ''Australia Act 1986'' is the short title of each of a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an act of the Parliament of Australia, the other an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In Australia they are refe ...

in 1985, and the British Parliament would pass its own Act in February 1986. This left New Zealand as the only original Dominion from 1931 that still had residual constitutional links to the United Kingdom.

Parliamentary process

A bill was introduced into Parliament during mid-1986, and was passed unanimously with the support of both the Labour and National parties on 13 December 1986. The act came into force on 1 January 1987. Amendments were passed during 1987 and 1999.

Effect

The Act repealed the

, renamed the General Assembly as the "Parliament of New Zealand" and ended the right of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

to make laws for New Zealand.

Key provisions

The Act consists of four main parts:

Part I: The Sovereign

* The head of state of New Zealand is the "Sovereign in Right of New Zealand", titled as the king or queen of New Zealand (section 2), and the sovereign's representative in New Zealand is the

(section 3). * In case of

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

, a regent performing royal functions under the law of the United Kingdom also performs them in right of New Zealand, without prejudice to the governor-general's authority (section 4). * The succession of the sovereign is determined by the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

(which is part of New Zealand law under the

Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 The Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 is an important part of New Zealand's uncodified constitution. The Act applies certain enactments of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, rulings of the Judicial Committee of the Pri ...

), as well as any other laws affecting the succession (such as the

Royal Succession Act 2013 The Royal Succession Act is an act of the New Zealand Parliament to alter the laws of succession to the New Zealand throne. Compared to the Canadian Succession to the Throne Act, 2013 which merely assented to the British Succession to the C ...

) (section 5).

Part II: The Executive

* Ministers of the Crown and members of the

Executive Council of New Zealand The Executive Council of New Zealand () is the full group of " responsible advisers" to the governor-general, who advise on state and constitutional affairs. All government ministers must be appointed as executive councillors before they ar ...

must be members of Parliament (section 6), with two exceptions: ** A non-MP who was a candidate in the previous general election may be appointed and serve for at most 40 days, though they continue in the post if they become an MP during that time. ** A person who ceases to be an MP continues in that post for up to 28 days. * Any member of the Executive Council may perform the functions of any Minister (section 7). * Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, who must be MPs (subject to a 28-day grace period after ceasing to be so), are appointed by the governor-general and may perform whatever ministerial functions are appointed to them, without prejudice to the powers of their departmental minister (sections 8, 9).

Part III: The Legislature

The House of Representatives

* The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

is stated to be the same entity established by the

(section 10). * The

Oath of Allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

is to be taken by members of Parliament (section 11). * The rules relating to the election of the Speaker and the Speaker's role upon dissolution or expiration of Parliament are set out (section 12, section 13).

Parliament

consists of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand (currently the King) and the House of Representatives; Parliament is stated to be the same body as the General Assembly established by the

(section 14). * Parliament has full power to make laws. Any remaining power of the UK Parliament to make laws for New Zealand is abolished (section 15). * Bills passed by Parliament become law as of

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

(section 16). * The term of Parliament is to be three years unless it is dissolved sooner (section 17). * The governor-general's power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament is set out (section 18). * Parliament meets not later than six weeks after the day fixed for the return of the writs for the general election (section 19). * Parliamentary business lapses on expiration or dissolution of Parliament but not prorogation, though Parliament may pass a resolution to reinstate business from the previous session (section 20).

Parliament and public finance

* Bills providing for the appropriation of public money or for the imposition of any charge upon public money are not to be passed unless they have been recommended to the House of Representatives by the Crown (section 21). This section has been repealed. * It is not lawful for the Crown, except by or under an Act of Parliament, to levy a tax, to raise a loan from any person or to spend any public money (section 22).

Part IV: The Judiciary

* The rules relating to the protection of judges against arbitrary removal from office are set out (section 23). * The salary of a judge of the High Court is not to be reduced during the judge's term. * Section 21, covering bills appropriating public money, is repealed.

Entrenchment

Only section 17 of the Act, which says that the term of Parliament is "three years from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer", is entrenched, by section 268 of the

Electoral Act 1993 The Electoral Act 1993 is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament for regulating elections in New Zealand. It "establishes the electoral agencies, electoral system, election processes (including that for disputing results), how MPs are replaced b ...

. This provision requires that any amendment to section 17 can be made only by a majority of three-quarters of all votes cast in Parliament, or by a referendum. Section 268 of the Electoral Act 1993 itself is not entrenched, which means that Parliament could repeal the section and then amend section 17 of the Act. Thus, the provision is said to only be "singly entrenched". Some academics, including Sir Geoffrey Palmer,''Bridled Power'' by Sir Geoffrey and Matthew Palmer, Oxford University Press, 2001, page 22 argue that the whole of the Constitution Act should be entrenched.

United Kingdom

The Act replaced the

, repealed the

Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 (Public Act no. 38 of 1947) was a constitutional Act of the New Zealand Parliament that formally accepted the full external autonomy offered by the British Parliament. By passing the Act on 25 Novembe ...

and removed the ability of the United Kingdom to pass laws for New Zealand with the consent of New Zealand's Parliament. Unlike Canada, New Zealand was able to patriate its constitution without British approval. The British Parliament had already passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947, as requested by the New Zealand Parliament in the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947. The British Act allowed the Parliament of New Zealand to amend any part of the 1852 Act, including the abolition of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

in 1951. Prior to that, a number of sections of the 1852 Act were unable to be amended by the Parliament of New Zealand, such as provisions establishing the Parliament itself.

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Constitution Act 1986 at the New Zealand legislation database (2005 reprint with repealed sections redacted)Original text of the Constitution Act 1986 at New Zealand Legal Information InstituteBackground and summary from the New Zealand Parliamentary Library
1986 in British law 1986 in New Zealand law Constitution of New Zealand Statutes of New Zealand New Zealand–United Kingdom relations 1986 in international relations 1986 in politics