New Zealand is an Oceanic island country located in the Pacific Ocean. The population of this country is approx 52,31,000 with 2,68,021 square kilometers area. Ethnically 71.8% European, 16.5% Maori, 15.3% Asian, 9% Pacific peoples live here with others. About 48% of citizens are atheists and 37% of citizens are Christians. More than 6% of citizens did not answer any question about religious preference.
New Zealand has no written constitution. But generally in the constitution which exists in all the states of the world: Introduction of the State, Citizen Rights, Parliament, Government, Court, Election Commission, State of Emergency, Special Provisions, etc. partially exist in various general laws of New Zealand.
No person can be a candidate for more than one parliamentary seat in the parliamentary elections. Each candidate has to deposit one thousand dollars in the specified account to participate in the election. Thereafter if any candidate does not secure at least 0.5% of the total number of votes received by all the political parties listed on the ballot paper, or does not win the constituency - his security shall be forfeited. No political party can accept anonymous donations of more than 1500 dollars.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
The King or Queen of Britain is the head of state of New Zealand. No one is qualified to be the president among them? New Zealand has special privileges for Maori. Governor can dismiss judges if Parliament is not sitting. Australian courts and lawyers are authorized to act in certain areas in New Zealand. It's weird! So what is the problem of other countries in the world?
Admirable Articles of New Zealand's Constitution
Judicature Act 1908
Part 1. The High Court
A. Constitution of the court
Subpart 4. Witnesses
56A. Failure of witness to attend (Part of it)
● If any witness who is compellable to attend to give evidence at the hearing of any civil proceeding in the High Court and who has been duly summoned fails to attend at the time and place appointed, the court may issue a warrant to arrest him and bring him before the court, and may adjourn the hearing.
56B. Refusal of witness to give evidence
● If any witness in any civil proceeding in the High Court, without offering any just excuse, refuses to give evidence when required, or refuses to produce any document which he has been required to produce, or refuses to be sworn, or having been sworn refuses to answer such questions concerning that proceeding as are put to him, the court may order that, unless he sooner consents to give evidence or to produce the document or to be sworn or to answer thse questions put to him, as the case may be, he be detained in custody for any period not exceeding 7 days, and may issue a warrant for his arrest and detention in accordance with the order.
● If the person so detained, on being brought up again at the hearing, again refuses to give evidence or to produce the document or to be sworn or, having been sworn, to answer the questions put to him, the court, if it thinks fit, may again direct that the witness be detained in custody for the like period, and so again from time to time until he consents to give evidence or to produce the document or to be sworn or to answer as aforesaid.
● Nothing in this section shall limit or affect any power or authority of the court to punish any witness for contempt of court in any case to which this section does not apply.
Subpart 5. Contempt of court
56C. Contempt of court (Part of it)
● If any person—
● assaults, threatens, intimidates, or wilfully insults a Judge, or any Registrar, or any officer of the court, or any juror, or any witness, during his sitting or attendance in court, or in going to or returning from the court; or
● wilfully interrupts or obstructs the proceedings of the court or otherwise misbehaves in court; or
● wilfully and without lawful excuse disobeys any order or direction of the court in the course of the hearing of any proceedings—
● any constable or officer of the court, with or without the assistance of any other person, may, by order of the Judge, take the offender into custody and detain him until the rising of the court.
New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
10. Right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation
Every person has the right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without that person’s consent.
13. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, including the right to adopt and to hold opinions without interference.
14. Freedom of expression
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.
15. Manifestation of religion and belief
Every person has the right to manifest that person’s religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching, either individually or in community with others, and either in public or in private.
16. Freedom of peaceful assembly
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
17. Freedom of association
Everyone has the right to freedom of association.
22. Liberty of the person
Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
23. Rights of persons arrested or detained
1. Everyone who is arrested or who is detained under any enactment-
a. shall be informed at the time of the arrest or detention of the reason for it; and
b. shall have the right to consult and instruct a lawyer without delay and to be informed of that right; and
c. shall have the right to have the validity of the arrest or detention determined without delay by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the arrest or detention is not lawful.
2. Everyone who is arrested for an offence has the right to be charged promptly or to be released.
3. Everyone who is arrested for an offence and is not released shall be brought as soon as possible before a court or competent tribunal.
4. Everyone who is-
a. arrested; or
b. detained under any enactment-
5. for any offence or suspected offence shall have the right to refrain from making any statement and to be informed of that right.
6. Everyone deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the person.
24. Rights of persons charged
Everyone who is charged with an offence—
A. shall be informed promptly and in detail of the nature and cause of the charge; and
B. shall be released on reasonable terms and conditions unless there is just cause for continued detention; and
C. shall have the right to consult and instruct a lawyer; and
D. shall have the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence; and
E. shall have the right, except in the case of an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal, to the benefit of a trial by jury when the penalty for the offence is or includes imprisonment for 2 years or more; and
F. shall have the right to receive legal assistance without cost if the interests of justice so require and the person does not have sufficient means to provide for that assistance; and
G. shall have the right to have the free assistance of an interpreter if the person cannot understand or speak the language used in court.
25. Minimum standards of criminal procedure
A. Everyone who is charged with an offence has, in relation to the determination of the charge, the following minimum rights:
B. the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial court:
C. the right to be tried without undue delay:
D. the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law:
E. the right not to be compelled to be a witness or to confess guilt:
F. the right to be present at the trial and to present a defence:
G. the right to examine the witnesses for the prosecution and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses for the defence under the same conditions as the prosecution:
H. the right, if convicted of an offence in respect of which the penalty has been varied between the commission of the offence and sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser penalty:
I. the right, if convicted of the offence, to appeal according to law to a higher court against the conviction or against the sentence or against both:
J. the right, in the case of a child, to be dealt with in a manner that takes account of the child’s age.
26. Retroactive penalties and double jeopardy
1. No one shall be liable to conviction of any offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute an offence by such person under the law of New Zealand at the time it occurred.
2. No one who has been finally acquitted or convicted of, or pardoned for, an offence shall be tried or punished for it again.
27. Right to justice
1. Every person has the right to the observance of the principles of natural justice by any tribunal or other public authority which has the power to make a determination in respect of that person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law.
2. Every person whose rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law have been affected by a determination of any tribunal or other public authority has the right to apply, in accordance with law, for judicial review of that determination.
3. Every person has the right to bring civil proceedings against, and to defend civil proceedings brought by, the Crown, and to have those proceedings heard, according to law, in the same way as civil proceedings between individuals.
Electoral Act 1993
59. No person to be candidate for more than 1 district or on more than 1 list
● No person shall at any general election be—
● a candidate for more than 1 electoral district; or
● a candidate whose name is included on more than 1 party list submitted pursuant to section 127.
● If 2 or more by-elections are held on the same polling day, no person shall be a candidate at more than 1 of those by-elections.
● At any general election, any person may be both—
● a candidate for any one electoral district; and
● a candidate whose name is included on any one party list submitted pursuant to section 127.
● If any person breaches subsection (1) or subsection (2), all nominations of that person as a candidate for those districts, party lists, or by-elections, as the case may be, shall be void, and any deposits made by him or her or on his or her behalf shall be forfeited and be paid into a Crown Bank Account.
127A. Deposit by party secretary (Part of it)
● If a secretary of a political party submits a list under section 127, he or she must pay to the Electoral Commission, no later than noon on nomination day, a deposit of $1,000 (inclusive of goods and services tax).
● The deposit must be paid by—
● direct credit to a bank account nominated by the Electoral Commission; or
● bank cheque.
● The deposit is forfeit and must be paid into a Crown Bank Account if the party neither—
● receives in total at least 0.5% of the total number of all party votes received by all the parties listed on the part of the ballot paper that relates to the party vote; nor
● wins a constituency seat.
● In every other case the deposit must be returned to the secretary of the party on whose behalf the deposit is paid, but only after the Electoral Commission has received—
● a duly completed return under section 206I in respect of that party; and
● the auditor’s report obtained under section 206L that relates to that return.
152. Death before close of nominations
● If a constituency candidate who has been nominated and has not withdrawn his or her nomination dies before the close of nominations,—
● his or her nomination is to be treated in all respects as if it had not been made; and
● his or her deposit must be returned to his or her personal representatives or, as the case may be, to the person who paid it.
207I. Anonymous donation may not exceed $1,500
1. If an anonymous candidate donation exceeding $1,500 is received by a candidate, the candidate must, within 20 working days of receipt of the donation, pay to the Electoral Commission the amount of the donation, or its value, less $1,500.
2. If an anonymous party donation exceeding $1,500 is received by a party secretary, the party secretary must, within 20 working days of receipt of the donation, pay to the Electoral Commission the amount of the donation, or its value, less $1,500.
3. All amounts received by the Electoral Commission under this section must be paid into a Crown Bank Account.
207M. Records of candidate donations
1. A candidate must keep proper records of all candidate donations received by him or her.
2. A candidate who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $40,000.
Facts of New Zealand's Constitution
Judicature Act 1908
Part 1. The High Court
A. Constitution of the court
4C. Judges of High Court act on full-time basis but may be authorised to act part-time
9. Governor may suspend Judge when Parliament not sitting
Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand
Preamble
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:
To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:
● Whereas by certain Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom bearing date at Westminster the 11th day of May 1917, His late Majesty King George the Fifth constituted, ordered, and declared that there should be a Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Dominion of New Zealand:
● And whereas by certain Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom bearing date at Westminster the 18th day of December 1918, His late Majesty King George the Fifth made other provision for the publication and the coming into operation of the said Letters Patent bearing date the 11th day of May 1917, in lieu of the provision made in the Fifteenth Clause thereof:
● And whereas at the Court at St. James’s on the 11th day of May 1917, His late Majesty King George the Fifth caused certain Instructions under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet to be given to the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief:
● And whereas at the Court at St. James’s on the 23rd day of July 1917, His late Majesty King George the Fifth caused a Dormant Commission to be passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, appointing the Chief Justice or the Senior Judge for the time being of the Supreme Court of New Zealand to administer the Government of New Zealand, in the event of the death, incapacity, or absence of the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief and of the Lieutenant-Governor (if any):
● And whereas, by Order in Council bearing date at Wellington the 26th day of September 1983, Our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of New Zealand, has requested the issue of new Letters Patent revoking and determining the said Letters Patent bearing date the 11th day of May 1917, the said Letters Patent bearing date the 18th day of December 1918, the said Instructions, and the said Dormant Commission, and substituting in place of the revoked documents other provision in the form of the draft of new Letters Patent set out in Schedule 1 to that Order in Council:
● And whereas the said Letters Patent bearing date the 11th day of May 1917, the said Letters Patent bearing date the 18th day of December 1918, the said Instructions, and the said Dormant Commission extend to the self-governing state of the Cook Islands and to the self-governing state of Niue as part of the law of the Cook Islands and of Niue, respectively:
● And whereas approval of the said draft of new Letters Patent has been signified on behalf of the Government of the Cook Islands and the Government of Niue:
● Now, therefore, We do by these presents revoke and determine the said Letters Patent bearing date the 11th day of May 1917, the said Letters Patent bearing date the 18th day of December 1918, the said Instructions, and the said Dormant Commission, but without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder; and We do hereby declare that the persons who are members of the body known as the Executive Council of New Zealand immediately before the coming into force of these Our Letters Patent shall be members of Our Executive Council hereby constituted as though they had been appointed thereto under these Our Letters Patent.
And We do declare Our will and pleasure as follows:
1. Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief constituted
We do hereby constitute, order, and declare that there shall be, in and over Our Realm of New Zealand, which comprises—
● New Zealand; and
● the self-governing state of the Cook Islands; and
● the self-governing state of Niue; and
● Tokelau; and
● the Ross Dependency,—
a Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief who shall be Our representative in Our Realm of New Zealand, and shall have and may exercise the powers and authorities conferred on him by these Our Letters Patent, but without prejudice to the office, powers, or authorities of any other person who has been or may be appointed to represent Us in any part of Our Realm of New Zealand and to exercise powers and authorities on Our behalf.
18. Power reserved to Her Majesty to revoke, alter, or amend the present Letters Patent
And We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend these Our Letters Patent as to Us or them shall seem meet.
Constitution Act 1986
Part 4. The Judiciary
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.
Electoral Act 1993
45. Maori representation (Part of it)
● It shall be the duty of the Commission, for the purpose of the representation of the Maori people in the House of Representatives, to divide New Zealand into Maori electoral districts from time to time in accordance with this section and section 269.
55. How vacancies created (Part of it)
● The seat of any member of Parliament shall become vacant—
● if he or she is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for life or by 2 or more years’ imprisonment, or is convicted of a corrupt practice, or is reported by the High Court in its report on the trial of an election petition to have been proved guilty of a corrupt practice; or
83. Application for registration (Part of it)
● An application for registration as an elector may be made to a Registrar of Electors—
● in writing, by completing and signing the prescribed form and returning it to the Registrar of Electors; or
● in an approved electronic medium, by providing the information necessary to complete the prescribed form.
● An application for registration as an elector must state, in respect of the person making the application,—
● the person’s occupation, if any; and
● the honorific (if any) by which the person wishes to be addressed; and
● whether or not the person is a Maori; and
● any other particulars that are prescribed in regulations.
