Legislation Act 2019

Parliamentary Counsel Office - Chief Parliamentary Counsel and employees of PCO

135: Chief Parliamentary Counsel

You could also call this:

"The person in charge of helping create and check New Zealand's laws is called the Chief Parliamentary Counsel."

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is in charge of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and answers to the Attorney-General. You can think of the Attorney-General as a high-ranking government official who oversees the law. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is responsible for how the office runs, making sure it works efficiently and effectively.

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel has a lot of responsibilities, including making sure the office does its job, managing its activities, and overseeing how it is run. However, when it comes to decisions about individual employees, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel makes those decisions independently, without answering to the Attorney-General.

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel must have a law degree and is appointed by the Governor-General, who is the representative of the King or Queen in New Zealand, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. They can hold the job for up to 7 years and can be reappointed, or they can resign by giving written notice to the Attorney-General. If you want to see how this law has changed over time, you can compare it to an earlier version, such as the one found at s 66 of a 2012 law. The Governor-General can remove or suspend the Chief Parliamentary Counsel from their job if they are not doing it properly, go bankrupt, neglect their duties, or behave badly.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7298466.


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Part 6Parliamentary Counsel Office
Chief Parliamentary Counsel and employees of PCO

135Chief Parliamentary Counsel

  1. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the chief executive of the PCO and is responsible to the Attorney-General for—

  2. carrying out the functions, duties, and powers of the PCO; and
    1. the general conduct of the PCO; and
      1. managing the activities of the PCO efficiently, effectively, and economically.
        1. However, in matters relating to decisions on individual employees, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel is not responsible to the Attorney-General and must act independently.

        2. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel—

        3. must hold a legal qualification:
          1. is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister:
            1. holds office for the period, which may not exceed 7 years, that is specified in the instrument by which the Chief Parliamentary Counsel is appointed:
              1. is eligible for reappointment from time to time:
                1. may resign from office by written notice to the Attorney-General.
                  1. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel may at any time be removed or suspended from office by the Governor-General for inability to perform the functions of the office, bankruptcy, neglect of duty, or misconduct proved to the satisfaction of the Governor-General.

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