New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
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|
Territorial extent | New Zealand |
---|---|
Dates | |
Royal assent | 30 June 1852 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | New Zealand Boundaries Act 1863 |
Repealed by | Constitution Act 1986 (New Zealand) Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (United Kingdom) |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (
The Act remained in force as part of New Zealand's constitution until it was repealed by the Constitution Act 1986.
The long title of the Act was "An Act to Grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand". The Act received royal assent on 30 June 1852.[4]
Background
In 1850, New Zealand was being governed as a
Effect
The Constitution established:
- The bicameral General Assembly (often referred to as Parliament, but not officially so called until 1986), consisting of the governor, a legislative council and a House of Representatives;
- The Executive Council, nominally appointed by the governor. This issue was to dominate the first session of Parliament in 1854;
- The Provinces of New Zealand, which divided New Zealand into six provinces.
By the Act, the provinces had the authority to pass provincial legislation, although the governor had a reserve power of veto such legislation, and the right of the Crown to disallow provincial Acts within two years of their passage was preserved. Parliament was granted the power to make laws for the "peace, order, and good government of New Zealand"[10] provided such legislation was not inconsistent with the laws of England.[10]
Sections
The Constitution Act consisted of 82 sections as passed, a preamble and one schedule.[4]
Preamble
The Constitution Act's preamble recounts the previous enactments (including the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846), charters and letters patent passed and issued in the creation of the Colony of New Zealand.[4]
Repeals
The Constitution Act repealed all enactments that were repugnant to the Constitution Act but preserved all ordinances of the then established provinces of New Zealand.[11]
Provinces
Sections 2 to 28 dealt with the Provinces of New Zealand, setting out their establishment,[12] composition, elections, powers and procedures. Each province was to have a Superintendent and a Provincial Council. Each Provincial Council consisted of no less than nine members,[13] elected by men over the age of 21 years, owning freehold estate, living in the district and with a £50 or above income per annum.[14] Since Māori land was owned collectively not on individual title as was required, most Māori could not vote.[2]
Superintendents were elected directly at the same time as Provincial Councils.[15]
Provinces were able to make laws (ordinances) in all areas, except for:[16]
- setting Customs duties[17]
- Creating courts except where allowed under New Zealand law[18]
- The issuing of bills (debentures), coins or paper currency[19]
- Weights and measures[20]
- Post-offices and postal services[21]
- Bankruptcy or insolvency:[22]
- Beacons and Lighthouses on the coast[23]
- Charges on shipping at any port[24]
- Marriage[25]
- Lands of the Crown, or lands to which the "title of the aboriginal native owners" (Māori) has not been "extinguished" (that is, sold)[26]
- "Inflicting any disabilities or restrictions" on Māori (described as "the native race") to which "persons of European birth or descent" would not also be subject to[27]
- Criminal law, except trial and punishment[28]
- Wills and inheritance[29]
Provincial councils could sit for no more than four years.[30]
Local government
The Constitution allowed for the creation of municipal corporations, i.e., city governments.[31] Municipal corporations could create their own regulations and by-laws but could be overruled by the provincial council in the province the corporation was established in.[31] The Constitution did not define how the municipal corporations would be elected, but left it to the General Assembly to determine.
Māori districts
"Māori districts" were allowed for under the Constitution Act,
General Assembly
A General Assembly was constituted, consisting of the governor, the Legislative Council, and the House of Representatives.
Assent to Bills
The Constitution stated the governor was empowered to grant, refuse and reserve assent to Bills passed by the General Assembly.[38] The governor could also return Bills to the General Assembly with suggested amendments.[38] The Sovereign could instruct the governor to refuse assent to Bills.[39]
The governor was required to send Bills assented to one of the Sovereign's principal Secretaries of State.[40] The Sovereign could then, by Order in Council, refuse assent to Bills.[40] If the governor reserved assent to a Bill, it could only be assented to by the Sovereign.[41]
New Zealand Company
The Constitution provided for the Crown to control the sale of "wastelands", land that was previously purchased (or claimed to be purchased) by the New Zealand Company from Māori for the Company's colonisation schemes.[42] The British government had lent £236,000 to the Company in 1846 to keep the company solvent. As a result, the Constitution provided for a quarter of the proceeds of land sales would go to the New Zealand Company until the debt was paid off.[42]
Canterbury Association
The Constitution specifically did not affect the legislation establishing the Canterbury Association.[42] The Canterbury Association was given the ability to hand its powers over the new provincial council, once established (eventually the Canterbury Province).[43] The Canterbury Association did so in 1853.
Otago Association
Because the land for settlement of Otago had originally been purchased by the New Zealand Company, the Constitution both restated the Crown's ability to dispose of the land (subject to existing purchase agreements),[44] and protected the Otago Association from being directly regulated by the General Assembly. Like the Canterbury Association, the Otago Association was also given the power to hand its powers over the new provincial council (eventually the Otago Province).[45]
Implementation
The first provincial elections were held during 1853. The
After fresh elections the 2nd Parliament met, and the new governor, Sir Thomas Gore Browne, asked Henry Sewell to form the first responsible ministry.
However, the General Assembly did not have total control of the executive. The governor retained reserve powers to disallow legislation and there was the authority of the Crown to disallow legislation even after the governor had given his assent. These powers of reservation and disallowance were prerogative powers included in the Act. This power was limited by the Balfour Declaration of 1926, in that they were to be exercised only on the advice of New Zealand ministers. The powers were not continued by the 1986 Constitution Act.
The powers of the Assembly were given in the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, which stated that colonial legislatures had full powers to make laws respecting their own constitution, powers, and procedure.
Amendments
The Act was amended several occasions, beginning in 1857. The New Zealand Parliament did not have the ability to amend all parts of the Act until 1947. A number of important amendments were made to the Act by the New Zealand Parliament.
New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857
The first amendment to the Act was made by the British Parliament during 1857. This amendment granted the New Zealand General Assembly the ability to amend or repeal all of the provisions of the Constitution Act except provisions such as the establishment of the General Assembly itself and the extent of its legislative powers.[46]
Abolition of the Provinces Act 1876
This amendment abolished the Provinces of New Zealand;[47]
New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947
In 1947, New Zealand adopted the
Legislative Council Abolition Act 1950
This amendment repealed the sections of the Constitution Act relating to the Legislative Council so that the New Zealand General Assembly, now Parliament, became a unicameral (single-chamber) legislature.
New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1973
This amendment gave the New Zealand Parliament the power to pass laws of extraterritorial effect.[48]
Repeal
The Act was repealed by section 28 of the Constitution Act 1986 in New Zealand. By the time of its repeal, only 18 of the Act's original 82 sections remained, of which a number were regarded as no longer effective. In the UK it was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989.[49]
See also
References
Footnotes
- short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised for the United Kingdom by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
Citations
- ^ "Government and Nation - Page 3. The constitution". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ a b Keenan, Danny (1 January 2012). Keenan, Danny (ed.). Huia histories of Māori.
- ISBN 978-1-84946-903-6.
- ^ a b c Constitution Act 1852, Preamble.
- ISBN 978-1-86966-379-7.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 43.
- ^ a b Constitution Act 1852, Section 71.
- ^ Sinclair 1986, p. 25.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 44.
- ^ a b Constitution Act 1852, Section 53.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 1.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 2.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 3.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 7.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 4.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(1).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(2).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(3).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(4).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(5).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(6).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(7).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(8).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(9).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(10).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(11).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(12).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 19(13).
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 13.
- ^ a b Constitution Act 1852, Section 70.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 32.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 39.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 33.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 34.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 35.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 36.
- ^ a b Constitution Act 1852, Section 56.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 57.
- ^ a b Constitution Act 1852, Section 58.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 59.
- ^ a b c Constitution Act 1852, Section 74.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 76.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 78.
- ^ Constitution Act 1852, Section 79.
- ^ "New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857 (20 and 21 Vict., c. 53.)". NZLII. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Abolition of the Provinces Act 1876". NZLII.
- ^ "New Zealand Constitution Amendement Act 1973" (PDF). New Zealand Legal Information Institute. 1973. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989".
Bibliography
- McLean, Gavin (2006). The Governors: New Zealand's Governors and Governors-General. Dunedin: Otago University Press. ISBN 1-877372-25-0.
- Sinclair, Keith (1986). A Destiny Apart: New Zealand's Search for National Identity. Wellington: Unwin Paperbacks. ISBN 0-86861-682-6.
Further reading
- "New Zealand Constitution Act 1852". Victoria University of Wellington - New Zealand Electronic Text Collection. 30 June 1852. Retrieved 2 April 2019.