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New Zealand has a constitution, but it is not set out in one all-inclusive
document – it consists of a series of formal legal documents, decisions
of the courts and the practices we describe as conventions. It increasingly
reflects the fact that the Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as a founding
document of government in New Zealand.
The Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of the constitution.
This Act recognises that the Queen, the Sovereign in right of New Zealand,
is the Head of State of New Zealand and that the Governor-General appointed
by her is her representative. Each can, in general, exercise all the powers
of the other. The powers of the Governor-General are described in the
Letters Patent Constituting the Office of the Governor-General of New
Zealand, most recently revised in 1983. Other relevant statutes are the
State Sector Act 1988, the Electoral Act 1993 and the Judicature Act 1908,
relating in turn to the three branches of government (the executive, the
legislature, and the judiciary), as well as the Ombudsmen Act 1975, the
Official Information Act 1982, the Public Finance Act 1989 and the New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
New Zealand is an independent sovereign nation. Because we are a monarchy,
our country is styled a “Realm”. The Realm of New Zealand
comprises New Zealand, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency, and the self-governing
states of the Cook Islands and Niue.
As Head of State, Queen Elizabeth’s formal New Zealand title is
“Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of New Zealand
and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender
of the Faith”.
The Queen’s personal representative in New Zealand is formally
styled “The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over
New Zealand”. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen on
the advice of the New Zealand Government, usually for a term of five years.
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