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Legislation Act 2019
Parliament’s oversight of secondary legislation
Confirmation
126: Effect on some legislation of not being confirmed by deadline (whether or not earlier revoked)

Part 1:
Preliminary provisions

3Purpose of this Act 4Overview of this Act 5Interpretation 6Transitional, savings, and related provisions 7Act binds the Crown

Part 2:
Interpretation and application of legislation

Part 3:
Drafting and publishing of legislation

Drafting and publishing legislation

Key drafting responsibilities

67What legislation is drafted by PCO 68Power to authorise IRD to draft Inland Revenue Bills

Key publishing responsibilities

69PCO must publish all legislation 70PCO must publish consolidations of legislation that is amended 71How and when PCO must publish legislation and consolidations of legislation 72How and when electronic versions of legislation must be available on legislation website

Other provisions applying to secondary legislation not published by PCO

73Maker must publish secondary legislation not published by PCO (if required)74Applicable publication requirements for secondary legislation not published by PCO 75Additional applicable publication requirements for secondary legislation with international transparency obligations under CPTPP 76Chief Parliamentary Counsel must support international transparency obligations 77Definitions for purposes of international transparency obligations

Official versions and related matters

78Official versions of legislation 79Legal status of official versions 79ALegislative status of publication notes and information 80Evidential status of minimum legislative information 81Judicial notice of legislation 82Power to revoke spent secondary legislation and other instruments

Attorney-General directions

83Attorney-General directions under this Part

Annual report on exemptions from presentation and other drafting and publication matters

83AAnnual report on exemptions from presentation and other drafting and publication matters

Correcting errors and making other editorial changes

84Purpose of this subpart 85Interpretation 86Power to make editorial changes 87Editorial changes 88Changes to numbering 89Changes to format 90When changes take effect 91Changes to legislation to be noted on legislation website

Revision Bills

92Purpose of this subpart 93Overview of this subpart 94Interpretation

Preparation of revisions

95Three-yearly revision programme 96Revision powers 97Format of revision Bill 98Certification of revision Bill 99Amendments proposed by revision Bills 100PCO’s annual report may address matters relating to revision and editorial changes

Part 4:
Disclosure requirements for Government-initiated legislation

101Purpose of this Part 102Interpretation in this Part 103Chief executives must prepare and publish disclosure statements for Government-initiated legislation 104What must be contained, or linked to, in disclosure statements 105Disclosure statement requirements do not apply to certain Bills and amendments 106Chief executives must act independently and include statement of responsibility 107Government notice must be issued to support consistent approach across agencies 108Government notice may be issued only with approval of House of Representatives 109Factors to be considered in determining classes of legislation requiring disclosure statements 110Ministerial direction may be given to support consistent approach across agencies 111Disclosure relates only to information available to public under Official Information Act 1982 112Validity of legislation not affected by failure to comply with this Part

Part 5:
Parliament’s oversight of secondary legislation

113Purpose of this Part

Presentation to House of Representatives

114Secondary legislation must be presented to House of Representatives

Disallowance by House of Representatives

115All secondary legislation subject to disallowance, with limited exceptions 116House of Representatives may disallow secondary legislation by resolution 117Secondary legislation disallowed if House of Representatives does not dispose of motion to disallow 118Effect of disallowance on legislation 119House of Representatives may amend or replace secondary legislation 120Resolution or motion is secondary legislation

Confirmation

121Definitions used in this subpart 122What secondary legislation must be confirmed under this subpart 123Secondary legislation must be confirmed by deadline (or otherwise will be revoked)124How to confirm secondary legislation 125Usual effect of revocation if not confirmed by deadline 126Effect on some legislation of not being confirmed by deadline (whether or not earlier revoked)127Confirmable secondary legislation must state this fact

Part 6:
Parliamentary Counsel Office

128Parliamentary Counsel Office continues

Objective and functions of PCO

129Objective of PCO 130Functions of PCO 131Confidentiality

Powers of Chief Parliamentary Counsel

132Powers of Chief Parliamentary Counsel 133Delegation of functions, duties, and powers 134Revocation of delegations

Chief Parliamentary Counsel and employees of PCO

135Chief Parliamentary Counsel 136Parliamentary counsel 137Chief Parliamentary Counsel and parliamentary counsel to hold legal qualification 138Other employees of PCO 139Remuneration and conditions of appointment of Chief Parliamentary Counsel 140Chief Parliamentary Counsel acts as employer 141Collective agreements 142Employment principles 143Appointments on merit 144Chief Parliamentary Counsel to establish procedure for notifying vacancies and appointments, and reviewing appointments 145Secondments from elsewhere in State Services for developing senior leadership and management capability 146Protection from liability

Part 7:
Regulations and miscellaneous provisions

Regulation-making powers

147Regulations 147ARegulations may make consequential amendments to other secondary legislation that authorises sub-delegated legislation

Review of revision programme provisions

148Review of revision programme provisions after 30 June 2020

Schedule 1:
Transitional, savings, and related provisions

Schedule 1A:
Secondary legislation made by Royal prerogative

Schedule 2:
Incorporation by reference

Schedule 3:
Exemptions from presentation or disallowance under this Act

Schedule 4:
Secondary legislation subject to confirmation by Act

Legislation Act 2019

Parliament’s oversight of secondary legislation - Confirmation

126: Effect on some legislation of not being confirmed by deadline (whether or not earlier revoked)

You could also call this:

"What happens to some laws if they are not approved on time"

If you make legislation under certain rules listed in Part 2 of Schedule 4, it must be confirmed by a deadline. If it is not confirmed by the deadline, the legislation is considered invalid from the start, even if it was revoked earlier under section 123. This means it is treated as if it was never in force to begin with.

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This page was last updated on 24 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7298448.

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

125: Usual effect of revocation if not confirmed by deadline, or

"What happens when a law is cancelled and not confirmed on time?"

127: Confirmable secondary legislation must state this fact, or

"Some laws must say they need to be approved by a deadline or they will be cancelled."

Part 5Parliament’s oversight of secondary legislation
Confirmation

126Effect on some legislation of not being confirmed by deadline (whether or not earlier revoked)

This section applies to unconfirmed legislation made under an empowering provision listed in Part 2 of Schedule 4 (whether it is revoked before the deadline or on the deadline by section 123).
The legislation is taken, on and from the deadline, to have been invalid for any previous period for which it purported to be in force.

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2012 No 119 s 47D