NEW ZEALAND – GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION AND JUDICIARY

New Zealand has a parliamentary system of government and is fully independent member of the Commonwealth. It has no written constitution. The Prime Minister is the leader of the of the political party executing authority and holding majority of seats in the parliament.             

New Zealand’s judiciary is a hierarchy consisting of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, the High Court of New Zealand and the District courts. These courts are all of general jurisdiction. The Family court, the Youth Court, the Employment court, the Environment court, and the Maori court are all courts of specialist jurisdiction. There are also a number of tribunals which operate in a quasi-judicial capacity, such as the Dispute Tribunal, the Tenancy Tribunal and the Waitangi Tribunal. New Zealand law has three principal sources: English common law, certain statutes of the United Kingdom Parliament, and statutes of the New Zealand parliament.

New Zealand has a constitution, which consists of a series of  formal legal documents, decisions of the courts and legal practices we describe as conventions. The Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of the constitution.The Act recognizes that the Queen, the soverign  in right of New Zealand, is the Head of State, and that the Governor- General appointed by her is her representative.Each can, in general, exercise powers of the other.