Constitution of New Zealand

An uncodified constitution resting on the Constitution Act 1986, ordinary statutes, conventions, and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Overview

New Zealand has no single constitutional document. Its core framework is the Constitution Act 1986, which replaced the British statute of 1852, alongside the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, the Electoral Act 1993, constitutional conventions, and the Treaty of Waitangi. Parliament has been unicameral since the Legislative Council was abolished in 1950, and its laws cannot be struck down by courts, although judges may interpret statutes consistently with the Bill of Rights. A small set of electoral provisions is entrenched and can be changed only by a three quarters majority of parliament or a referendum. The 1993 referendum that adopted mixed member proportional voting is regarded as its most significant modern reform.