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| Constitution Act 1986 | |
 Parliament of New Zealand |
|
| Long title/Purpose | 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 |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Date passed | 13 December 1986 |
| Commencement | 1 January 1987 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amendments | 1987, 1999, 2005 |
| Related legislation | New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, the Electoral Act 1993 |
| Status: Current legislation | |
The Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of New Zealand's Constitution.
It severed the last remaining ties of New Zealand to the British Parliament.
Contents |
After the 1984 election, there was an awkward transfer of power from the outgoing Third National government to the new Fourth Labour government in the midst of a financial crisis. Outgoing Prime Minister Robert Muldoon was initially unwilling to accept instruction from the incoming Prime Minister elect David Lange to devalue the currency. Eventually he relented, but only after his own party caucus had threatened to replace him.
An Official Committee on Constitutional Reform was set up 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 incumbent to elect governments (and hence Prime Ministers) was not resolved by this Act however, and the transfer of executive powers remains an unwritten constitutional convention, known as the 'caretaker convention'.
The Official Committee on Constitutional Reform reported back to Parliament in February 1986[1]. The Committee recommended that New Zealand adopt an Act to restate the various constitutional provisions in a single enactment.
A Bill was introduced into Parliament in mid-1986, and was passed unanimously with the support of both Labour and National on the 13 December 1986. The act came into force on 1 January 1987. Amendments were passed in 1987 and 1999.
The Act repealed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, renamed the General Assembly as the "House of Representatives" and removed the right of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate at the consent of the New Zealand Parliament.
The Act consists of four main parts:
Parliament and Public Finance
Only section 17 of the Act (which says that the term of Parliament is "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.) is entrenched, by section 268 of the Electoral Act 1993. This provision requires that any amendment to section 17 can only be made with a majority of three-quarters (75%) of all votes cast in Parliament, or by a referendum. However, section 268 of the Electoral Act 1993 itself is not entrenched - which means that Parliament could repeal the section itself, and amend section 17 of the Act. Thus, the provision is said to only be 'singly entrenched'. Some academics, including Sir Geoffrey Palmer[2] argue that the Act should be totally entrenched.
The Act severed the last remaining ties of New Zealand to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act replaced the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 and repealed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 and removed the ability for the United Kingdom to pass laws for New Zealand with the consent of New Zealand's parliament.
The last British Act of Parliament passed on behalf of the New Zealand Parliament was the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947 which was passed to allow the New Zealand Parliament to alter certain parts of the 1852 Act. The British Act allowed New Zealand to abolish the New Zealand Legislative Council, a body entrenched in the original 1852 Act.
