Constitution Act 1986

The Sovereign

3A: Advice and consent of Executive Council

You could also call this:

"The Governor-General can make decisions with help from a group of advisors, even if they're not there."

The Sovereign or the Governor-General can do something or make a decision with the advice and consent of the Executive Council. This can happen even if the Sovereign or the Governor-General is not at the meeting, as long as they have a good reason for not being there. The decision takes effect from the date of the meeting, unless another time is specified.

If the Sovereign or the Governor-General is not at the meeting, they can still get advice and consent from the Executive Council. You can find more information about how this law was changed by the Constitution Amendment Act 1999. The decision made by the Executive Council is valid, even if someone thinks the Sovereign or the Governor-General should have been at the meeting.

The law says that the decision cannot be challenged in court just because the Sovereign or the Governor-General was not at the meeting. This means that the decision is final, as long as it was made with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 18 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM94212.

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

3: Exercise of royal powers by the Sovereign or the Governor-General, or

"The Queen or Governor-General makes big decisions using special powers given by laws."

3B: Exercise of powers and duties by Administrator, or

"Administrator takes over Governor-General's job when needed"

Part 1The Sovereign

3AAdvice and consent of Executive Council

The Sovereign or the Governor-General may perform a function or duty, or exercise a power, on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council if that advice and consent are given at a meeting of the Executive Council at which neither the Sovereign nor the Governor-General is present if the Sovereign or the Governor-General is prevented from attending the meeting by some necessary or reasonable cause.
The performance of the function or duty, or the exercise of the power takes effect from the date of the meeting unless another time is specified for the performance of the function or duty, or for the exercise of the power, to take effect.
Neither the validity of the performance of the function or duty, nor the validity of the exercise of the power, can be challenged in any legal proceedings on the ground that the Sovereign or the Governor-General was not prevented from attending the meeting of the Executive Council by some necessary or reasonable cause.

Notes

Section 3A: inserted, on 1 November 1999, by section 2 of the Constitution Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 86).