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Constitution Act 1986

Introduction

You could also call this:

"Making New Zealand's Rules More Straightforward and Independent"

Illustration for Constitution Act 1986

This law is about changing the rules that govern New Zealand. It aims to put important rules into one place. The law also says that an old law from the United Kingdom, called the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, will no longer be part of New Zealand's laws.

You might wonder what this means for New Zealand. This law is trying to make New Zealand's rules more straightforward. It wants to make sure that New Zealand has its own set of rules, rather than following old rules from another country.

This change is about New Zealand having more control over its own laws. The old law from the United Kingdom will no longer apply, and New Zealand will have its own rules to follow.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM94203.

Highlights from this law

Topics:
Government and voting > Government departments
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1: Short Title and commencement, or

"What the law is called and when it started"

Constitution Act 1986

Reprint as at:
2005-05-17
Assent:
1986-12-13
Commencement:
see section 1(2)

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint.

This Act is administered by the Ministry of Justice.

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