New Zealand Constitutional System Essay

To what extent has history affected New Zealand’s current constitutional system? First and foremost, a constitution is a compact document that comprises a number of articles about the State, laying down rules which State activities are supposed to follow. New Zealand constitution does not consist of a single document, unlike The United States. Instead has a form of an unwritten constitution consisting of legislation, cases, legal documents, and common law. History is one of the most important factors when it comes to the shaping the New Zealand constitutional system.

The Manga Carta is a very important document when looking at the separation of powers. New Zealand is a commonwealth country so our entire legal system is based on England’s law including common law. The Manga Carta was created during the reign of King John the first, in the 13th century and signed on the 15 of June 1215. King John was taxing his barons heavily to pay for his elaborate …show more content…
The constitution act can be overridden the act is not the supreme law like it is the United States where no law can override the Constitution, their Constitution is the supreme law. It took a long time for New Zealand to gain parliamentary sovereignty. The Constitution Act of 1852 gave the New Zealand colony a representative government. The government still had to subordinate to the governor. It was not until 25 September 1907 the New Zealand that we became a dominion. The constitutional crisis of 1984 had created sparked a review of the New Zealand Constitution Act, 1852 and lead to the crisis lead to the creation of the Constitution Act of 1986. The Constitution act legally separated the UK from New Zealand formally stated as The United Kingdom shall cease to have effect as part of the law of New Zealand The Sovereign or the head of state of New Zealand is still whoever the ruling monarchy (Queen Elisabeth II)