Preamble

An Act to reform the constitutional law of New Zealand, to bring together into one enactment certain provisions of constitutional significance, and to provide that the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall cease to have effect as part of the law of New Zealand

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Part 0

Short Title and Commencement

Section 1: Short Title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Constitution Act 1986.

2. This Act shall come into force on the 1st day of January 1987.

Part I

The Sovereign

Section 2: Head of State

1. The Sovereign in right of New Zealand is the head of State of New Zealand, and shall be known by the royal style and titles proclaimed from time to time.

2. The Governor-General appointed by the Sovereign is the Sovereign's representative in New Zealand.

Section 3: Exercise of royal powers by the Sovereign or the Governor-General

1. Every power conferred on the Governor-General by or under any Act is a royal power which is exercisable by the Governor-General on behalf of the Sovereign, and may accordingly be exercised either by the Sovereign in person or by the Governor-General.

2. Every reference in any Act to the Governor-General in Council or any other like expression includes a reference to the Sovereign acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.

Section 4: Regency

1. Where, under the law of the United Kingdom, the royal functions are being performed in the same and on behalf of the Sovereign by a Regent, the royal functions of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand shall be performed in the name and on behalf of the Sovereign by that Regent.

2. Nothing in subsection (1) of this section limits, in relation to any power of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand, the authority of the Governor-General to exercise that power.

Section 5: Demise of the Crown

1. The death of the Sovereign shall have the effect of transferring all the functions, duties, powers, authorities, rights, privileges, and dignities belonging to the Crown to the Sovereign's successor, as determined in accordance with the enactment of the Parliament of England intituled The Act of Settlement (12 & 13 Will. 3, c. 2) and any other law relating to the succession to the Throne, but shall otherwise have no effect in law for any purpose.

2. Every reference to the Sovereign in any document or instrument in force on or after the commencement of this Act shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to the Sovereign's heirs and successors.

Part II

The Executive

Section 6: Ministers of Crown to be members of Parliament

1. A person may be appointed and may hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown only if that person is a member of Parliament.

2. Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section,

a. A person who is not a member of Parliament may be appointed and may hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown if that person was a candidate for election at the general election of members of the House of Representatives held immediately preceding that person's appointment as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown but shall vacate office at the expiration of the period of 40 days beginning with the date of the appointment unless, within that period, that person becomes a member of Parliament; and

b. Where a person who holds office both as a member of Parliament and as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown ceases to be a member of Parliament, that person may continue to hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown until the expiration of the 28th day after the day on which that person ceases to be a member of Parliament.

Section 7: Power of member of Executive Council to exercise Minister's powers

Any function, duty, or power exercisable by or conferred on any Minister of the Crown (by whatever designation that Minister is known) may, unless the context otherwise requires, be exercised or performed by any member of the Executive Council.

Section 8: Appointment of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries

1. The Governor-General may from time to time, by warrant under the Governor-General's hand, appoint any member of Parliament to be a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in relation to such Ministerial office or offices as are specified in that behalf in the warrant of appointment.

2. A Parliamentary Under-Secretary shall hold office as such during the pleasure of the Governor-General, but shall in every case vacate that office within 28 days of ceasing to be a member of Parliament.

Section 9: Functions of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries

1. A Parliamentary Under-Secretary holding office as such in respect of any Ministerial office shall have and may exercise or perform under the direction of the Minister concerned such of the functions, duties, and powers of the Minister of the Crown for the time being holding that office as may from time to time be assigned to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary by that Minister.

2. Nothing in subsection (1) of this section limits the authority of any Minister of the Crown to exercise or perform personally any function, duty, or power.

3. The fact that any person holding office as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in respect of any Ministerial office purports to exercise or perform any function, duty, or power of the Minister concerned shall be conclusive evidence of that person's authority to do so.

Part III

The Legislature

Title 1

The House of Representatives

Section 10: House of Representatives

1. There shall continue to be a House of Representatives for New Zealand.

2. The House of Representatives is the same body as the House of Representatives referred to in section 32 of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

3. The House of Representatives shall be regarded as always in existence, notwithstanding that Parliament has been dissolved or has expired.

4. The House of Representatives shall have as its members those persons who are elected from time to time in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 1956, and who shall be known as "members of Parliament".

Section 11: Oath of allegiance to be taken by members of Parliament

1. A member of Parliament shall not be permitted to sit or vote in the House of Representatives until that member has taken the Oath of Allegiance in the form prescribed in section 17 of the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957.

2. The oath to be taken under this section shall be administered by the Governor-General or a person authorised by the Governor-General to administer that oath.

Section 12: Election of Speaker

The House of Representatives shall, at its first meeting after any general election of its members, and immediately on its first meeting after any vacancy occurs in the office of Speaker, choose one of its members as its Speaker, and every such choice shall be effective on being confirmed by the Governor-General.

Section 13: Speaker to continue in office notwithstanding dissolution or expiration of Parliament

A person who is in office as Speaker immediately before the dissolution or expiration of Parliament shall, notwithstanding that dissolution or expiration, continue in office until the close of polling day at the next general election unless that person sooner vacates office as Speaker.

Title 2

Parliament

Section 14: Parliament

1. There shall be a Parliament of New Zealand, which shall consist of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand and the House of Representatives.

2. The Parliament of New Zealand is the same body as that which before the commencement of this Act was called the General Assembly (as established by section 32 of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom) and which consisted of the Governor-General and the House of Representatives.

Section 15: Power of Parliament to make laws

1. The Parliament of New Zealand continues to have full power to make laws.

2. No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend to New Zealand as part of its law.

Section 16: Royal assent to Bills

A Bill passed by the House of Representatives shall become law when the Sovereign or the Governor-General assents to it and signs it in token of such assent.

Section 17: Term of Parliament

1. The term of Parliament shall, unless Parliament is sooner dissolved, be 3 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.

2. Section 189 of the Electoral Act 1956 shall apply in respect of subsection (1) of this section.

Section 18: Summoning, proroguing, and dissolution of Parliament

1. The Governor-General may be Proclamation summon Parliament to meet at such place and time as may be appointed therein, notwithstanding that when the Proclamation is signed or when it takes effect Parliament stands prorogued to a particular date.

2. The Governor-General may by Proclamation prorogue or dissolve Parliament.

3. A Proclamation summoning, proroguing, or dissolving Parliament shall be effective

a. On being gazetted; or

b. On being publicly read, by some person authorised to do so by the Governor-General, in the presence of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and 2 other persons, whichever occurs first.

4. Every Proclamation that takes effect pursuant to subsection (3) (b) of this section shall be gazetted as soon as practicable after it is publicly read.

Section 19: First meeting of Parliament after general election

After any general election of members of the House of Representatives, Parliament shall meet not later than 6 weeks after the day fixed for the return of the writs for that election.

Section 20: Carrying over of Parliamentary business

Where the House of Representatives resolves that any Bill, petition, or other business before it or any of its committees be carried over to the next session of Parliament (whether the same Parliament or not), that Bill, petition, or other business shall not lapse upon the prorogation or dissolution or expiration of the Parliament in being when that resolution is passed but shall be carried over accordingly.

Title 3

Parliament and Public Finance

Section 21: Bills appropriating public money

The House of Representatives shall not pass any Bill providing for the appropriation of public money or for the imposition of any charge upon the public revenue unless the making of that appropriation or the imposition of that charge has been recommended to the House of Representatives by the Crown.

Section 22: Parliamentary control of public finance

It shall not be lawful for the Crown, except by or under an Act of Parliament,

a. To levy a tax; or

b. To raise a loan or to receive any money as a loan from any person; or

c. To spend any public money.

Section 23: Protection of Judges against removal from office

A Judge of the High Court shall not be removed from office except by the Sovereign or the Governor-General, acting upon an address of the House of Representatives, which address may be moved only on the grounds of that Judge's misbehaviour or of that Judge's incapacity to discharge the functions of that Judge's office.

Section 24: Salaries of Judges not to be reduced

The salary of a Judge of the High Court shall not be reduced during the continuance of the Judge's commission.

Section 25: General Assembly Library to be known as the Parliamentary Library

1. The Library heretofore known as the General Assembly Library shall, as from the commencement of this Act, be known as the Parliamentary Library.

2. The officer heretofore known as the Chief Librarian of the General Assembly Library shall be known, as from the commencement of this Act, as the Parliamentary Librarian.

3. Subject to section 27 of this Act, all references to the General Assembly Library or to the Chief Librarian of the General Assembly Library in any other enactment or in any document whatsoever shall hereafter, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as references to the Parliamentary Library and to the Parliamentary Librarian respectively.

Section 26: United Kingdom enactments ceasing to have effect as part of the law of New Zealand

1. As from the commencement of this Act the following enactments of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, namely,

a. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (15 and 16 Vict., c. 72); and

b. The Statute of Westminster 1931 (22 Geo. V, c. 4); and

c. The New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947 (11 Geo. VI, c. 4), shall cease to have effect as part of the law of New Zealand.

2. The provisions of sections 20, 20A, and 21 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924 shall apply with respect to the enactments specified in subsection (1) of this section as if they were Acts of the Parliament of New Zealand that had been repealed by that subsection.

3. Without limiting the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, it is hereby declared that the effect of section 11 of the Statute of Westminster 1931 (22 Geo. V, c. 4) (which section declared that the expression "Colony" shall not, in any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of the Statute of Westminster 1931, include a Dominion or any Province or State forming part of a Dominion) shall not be affected by virtue of the Statute of Westminster 1931 ceasing, by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, to have effect as part of the law of New Zealand.

Section 27: Consequential amendments to other enactments

The enactments specified in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby amended in the manner indicated in that Schedule.

Section 28: Repeals

1. The enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed.

2. The Regulations Amendment Act 1962 is hereby consequentially repealed.

3. Section 2 (2) of the Primary Products Marketing Amendment Act 1977 is hereby consequentially repealed.

4. Section 5 of the Civil List Amendment Act 1985 is hereby consequentially repealed.

Section 29: Transitional and consequential provisions relating to Parliament

1. The Parliament in being at the commencement of this Act (before the commencement of this Act called the General Assembly) shall continue in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this Act.

2. As from the commencement of this Act, every reference to the General Assembly or to the General Assembly of New Zealand in any enactment passed before the date of commencement of this Act and in any document executed before that date shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the Parliament of New Zealand.

3. Subsection (2) of this section shall not apply in respect of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924.

New Zealand

Treaty of Waitangi

6 Feb 1840

Preamble

Her Majesty Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland regarding with Her Royal Favour the Native Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and anxious to protect their just Rights and Property and to secure to them the enjoyment of Peace and Good Order has deemed it necessary in consequence of the great number of Her Majesty's Subjects who have already settled in New Zealand and the rapid extension of Emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorized to treat with the Aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands.

Her Majesty therefore being desirous to establish a settled form of Civil Government with a view to avert the evil consequences which must result from the absense of the necessary Laws and Institutions alike to the native population and to Her subjects has been graciously pleased to empower and to authorize me William Hobson a Captain in Her Majesty's Royal Navy Consul and Lieutenant Governor of such parts of New Zealand as may be or hereafter shall be ceded to Her Majesty to invite the confederated and independent Chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following Articles and Conditions.

Article 1

The Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the separate and independent Chiefs who have not become members of the Confederation cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England absolutely and without reservation all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which the said Confederation or Individual Chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess, over their respective Territories as the sole Sovereigns thereof.

Article 2

Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and to the respective families and individuals thereof the full exclusive and undis-turbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the Chiefs of the United Tribes and the individual Chiefs yield to her Majesty the exclusive right of Preemption over such lands as the Proprietors and persons appointed by Her Majesty treat with them in that behalf.

Article 3

In consideration thereof Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.

[Postamble] Now therefore,

We the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand being assembled in Congress at Victoria in Waitangi and We the Separate and Independent Chiefs of New Zealand claiming authority over the Tribes and Territories which are specified after our respective names, having made fully to understand the Provisions of the foregoing Treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof in witness of which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and dates respectively specified.