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New Zealand Constitutional Law Resources |
Last Updated: 21 August 2017
The Constitution Act.
(15 & 16 Vict. c. 72.)
An Act to grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand.
[30th June, 1852.]
Whereas by an Act of the Session holden in the third
and fourth years of Her Majesty, chapter sixty-two, it was enacted, that it
should
be lawful for Her Majesty, by Letters Patent, to be from time to time
issued under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, to erect
into a separate
Colony or Colonies any Islands which then were, or which thereafter might be,
comprised within and be Dependencies
of the Colony of New South Wales: And
whereas in pursuance of the powers in Her vested by the said Act, Her Majesty
did, by certain
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom,
bearing date the sixteenth day of November, in the fourth year of Her
reign,
erect into a separate Colony the Islands of New Zealand, theretofore comprised
within or Dependencies of the Colony of New
South Wales, bounded as therein
described; and the said Islands of New Zealand were thereby erected into a
separate Colony accordingly;
and Her Majesty did, by the said Letters Patent,
authorize the Governor for the time being of the said Colony of New Zealand, and
certain other persons, to be a Legislative Council for such Colony, and to make
laws for the peace, order, and good government thereof:
And whereas by an of Her
Majesty, chapter one hundred and three, the Act firstly herein recited, and all
Charters, Letters Patent,
Instructions, and Orders in Council, made and issued
in pursuance thereof, were repealed, abrogated, and annulled, so far as the
same
were repugnant to the Act now in recital, or any Letters Patent, Charters,
Orders in Council, or Royal Instructions to he issued
under the authority
thereof; and, by the Act now in recital, certain powers for the government of
the said Islands were vested in
Her Majesty, to be executed by Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, or by Instructions under Her
Majesty's
signet and sign manual, approved in Her Privy Council, and
accompanying or referred to in such Letters Patent: And whereas in pursuance
of
the said last- mentioned Act, Her Majesty did, by Letters Patent, bearing date
at Westminster the twenty-third day of December,
in the tenth year of Her reign,
and by certain instructions made and approved as required by such Act, and
bearing even date with
and accompanying the said Letters Patent, execute certain
of the powers by such Act vested in Her Majesty for the better government
of the
said Islands: And whereas by an Act of the Session holden in the eleventh and
twelfth years of Her Majesty, chapter five,
so much of the said Act secondly
herein recited, and the said Letters Patent, and Instructions issued in
pursuance thereof, as relates
to the constitution and establishment of two or
more separate Assemblies within the said Islands, and of a General Assembly in
and
for the said Islands, was suspended for five years, unless Her Majesty, with
the advice of Her Privy Council, should direct the same
to he carried into
effect before the expiration of that period; and, by the Act now in recital, the
said firstly- recited Act, Letters
Patent, and Instructions were revived for the
time during which the said secondly recited Act, Letters Patent, and
Instructions were
suspended as aforesaid; and, by the Act now in recital,
certain powers were vested respectively in the Governor-in-Chief of the said
Islands, and in such Governor and the Legislative Council thereof: And whereas
it is expedient that further and better provision
should he made for the
Government of New Zealand:
Be It Therefore Exacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with
the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows:—
1. The said Acts, and all Charters, Letters Patent,
Instructions, and Orders in Council, issued in pursuance thereof, shall be, and
the same are hereby repealed, so far as the same are repugnant to, or would
prevent or interfere with the operation of this Act,
or any Letters Patent or
Instructions to be issued under the authority or in pursuance of this Act:
Provided nevertheless, that all
laws and ordinances made, and acts done, under
and in pursuance of the said recited Acts, and any Charters, Letters Patent,
Instructions,
or Orders in Council, issued in pursuance thereof, shall continue
as lawful, valid, and effectual, as if this Act had not been passed,
save so far
as any such laws, ordinances, or acts may be repugnant to, or would prevent or
interfere with, the operation of this
Act: Provided also, that, until the
expiration of the time, or latest of the times, appointed for the return of
writs for the first
election of Members of the Provincial Councils of the
Provinces established by this Act, the existing Provincial Legislative Councils
shall continue to have and exercise all rights, jurisdiction, powers, and
authorities which they would have had if this Act had not
been passed; and until
the expiration of the time appointed for the return of the writs for the first
election of the Members of
the House of Representatives to be constituted under
this Act, the Legislative Council of New Zealand shall continue to have and
exercise all rights, jurisdiction, powers, and authorities which such
Legislative Council would have had if this Act had not been
passed.
2.
The following Provinces are hereby established in New Zealand, namely, Auckland,
New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury,
and Otago; and the limits of such
several Provinces shall be fixed by Proclamation by the Governor, as soon as
conveniently may be
after the proclamation of this Act in New Zealand.
3.
For each of the said Provinces hereby established, and for every Province
hereafter to be established as hereinafter provided,
there shall be a
Superintendent and a Provincial Council; and the Provincial Council of each of
the said Provinces hereby established
shall consist of such number of Members,
not less than nine, as the Governor shall by proclamation direct and
appoint.
4. Upon or before the issue of writs for the first election of
Members of the Provincial Council for any Province established by or
under this
Act, the persons duly qualified in each of the said Provinces to elect Members
of the Provincial Councils as hereinafter
mentioned, shall elect a
Superintendent of such Province; and on the termination of such Council, by
expiration of the period hereinafter
fixed for its continuance, or by the
previous dissolution thereof, the persons qualified as aforesaid shall elect the
same or some
other person to be Superintendent, and so on from time to time; and
every such Superintendent shall hold his office until the election
of his
successor: Provided always, 1 that it shall be lawful for the Governor of New Zealand, on behalf of
Her Majesty, to disallow any such election; and if such disallowance
be
signified by the Governor, under the Seal of New Zealand, to the Speaker of such
Council, at any time within three months after
such election, the office of
Superintendent shall become vacant; and on any vacancy occasioned by such
disallowance, or by the death
or resignation of the Superintendent (such
resignation being accepted by the Governor on behalf of Her Majesty), a new
election shall
in like manner take place: Provided further, that, at any time
during the continuance of the office of any such Superintendent, it
shall be
lawful for Her Majesty to remove him from such office, on receiving an address
signed by the majority of the Members of
such Provincial Council praying for
such removal; and thereupon the like proceedings shall be had as in the case of
any such vacancy
as above mentioned.
5. It shall be lawful for the
Governor, by Proclamation to constitute within each of the said Provinces hereby
established convenient
electoral districts for the election of Members of the
Provincial Council, and of the Superintendent, and to appoint and declare
the
number of Members to be elected for each such district for the Provincial
Council, and to make provision for the registration
and revision of lists of all
persons qualified to vote at the elections to be holden within such districts,
and for the appointing
of Returning Officers, and for issuing, executing, and
returning the necessary writs for such elections, and for taking the poll
thereat, and for determining the validity of all disputed returns, and otherwise
for ensuring the orderly, effective, and impartial
conduct of such elections;
and in determining the number and extent of such electoral districts, and the
number of Members to be
elected for each district, regard shall be had to the
number of electors within the same, so that the number of Members to be assigned
to any one district may bear to the whole number of the Members of the said
Council, as nearly as may be, the same proportion as
the number of electors
within such district shall bear to the whole number of electors within the
limits of the Province.
6. Every person within any Province hereby
established, or hereafter to be established, who shall be legally qualified as
an elector,
and duly registered as such, shall be qualified to be elected a
Member of the Provincial Council thereof, or to be elected Superintendent
thereof: Provided always, that it shall not be necessary that he reside or
possess the qualification in the particular district for
which he may be elected
to serve as a Member.
7. The Members of every such Council shall be
chosen by the votes of the inhabitants of the Province who may be qualified as
hereinafter
mentioned; that is to say, every man of the age of twenty-one years
or upwards, having a freehold estate in possession, situate within
the district
for which the vote is to be given, of the clear value of fifty pounds above all
charges and incumbrances, and of or
to which he has been seized or entitled,
either at law or in equity, for at least six calendar months next before the
last registration
of the electors, or having a leasehold estate in possession,
situate within such district, of the clear annual value of ten pounds,
held upon
a lease which at the time of such registration shall have not less than three
years to run, or having a leasehold estate
so situate, and of such value as
aforesaid, of which he has been in possession for three years or upwards next
before such registration,
or being a householder within such district, occupying
a tenement within the limits of a town (to be proclaimed as such by the Governor
for the purposes of this Act), of the clear annual value of ten pounds, or
without the limits of a town, of the clear annual value
of five pounds, and
having resided therein six calendar months next before such registration as
aforesaid, shall, if duly registered,
be entitled to vote at the election of a
Member or Members for the district.
8. Provided always, that no person
shall be entitled to vote at any such election who is an alien, or who at any
time theretofore
shall have been attainted or convicted of any treason, felony,
or infamous offence, within any part of Her Majesty's dominions, unless
he shall
have received a free pardon, or shall have undergone the sentence or punishment
to which he shall have been adjudged for
such offence.
9. It shall be
lawful for any Member of any Provincial Council, by writing under his hand,
addressed to the Superintendent of the
Province, to resign his seat in the said
Council; and upon the receipt by the Superintendent of such resignation, the
seat of such
Member shall become vacant.
10. If any Member of any
Provincial Council shall, for two successive Sessions of such Council, fail to
give his attendance therein,
or shall become bankrupt, or shall become an
insolvent debtor within the meaning of the laws relating to insolvent debtors,
or shall
become a public defaulter, or be attainted of treason, or be convicted
of felony or any infamous offence, his seat in such Council
shall thereupon
become vacant.
11. Any question which shall arise respecting any vacancy
in a Provincial Council on occasion of any of the matters aforesaid shall
be
heard and determined by such Council, on such question being referred to them
for that purpose by the Superintendent of the Province,
and not otherwise.
12. Whenever it shall be established to the satisfaction of the
Superintendent, that the seat of any Member of the Provincial Council
has become
vacant, the Superintendent shall forthwith issue a writ for the election of a
new Member to serve in the place so vacated,
during the remainder of the term of
the continuance of such Council, and no longer.
13. Every Provincial
Council shall continue for the period of four years from the day of the return
of the writs for choosing the
same, and no longer: Provided always, that it
shall be lawful for the Governor, by Proclamation or otherwise, sooner to
dissolve
the same, whenever he shall deem it expedient so to do.
14. The
Governor shall cause the first writs for the election of Members of the
Provincial Council of every Province hereby established
to be issued at some
time not later than six calendar months next after the proclamation of this Act
in New Zealand; and upon the
expiration of the said period of the continuance of
any Provincial Council, or upon the previous dissolution thereof, the Governor
shall cause writs to be issued for the election of Members of the ensuing
Council.
15. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, by Proclamation
in the Government Gazette, to fix such place or places within the limits
of the Province, and such times for holding the first and every other session of
the
Provincial Council, as he may think fit, and from time to time, in manner
aforesaid, to alter and vary such times and places as he
may judge advisable,
and most consistent with general convenience.
16. It shall be lawful for
the Superintendent to prorogue such Council from time to time, whenever he shall
deem it expedient so to
do.
17. Provided always, that there shall he
a session of every Provincial Council once at least in every year, so that a
greater period
than twelve calendar months shall not intervene between the last
sitting of the Council in one session, and the first sitting of
the Council in
the next session.
18. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of each
Province, with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof, to
make
and ordain all such laws and ordinances (except and subject as hereinafter
mentioned) as may be required for the peace, order,
and good government of such
Province, provided that the same be not repugnant to the law of
England.
19. It shall not be lawful for the Superintendent and Provincial
Council to make or ordain any law or ordinance for any of the purposes
hereinafter mentioned; (that is to say)—
(1.)
|
The imposition or regulation of Duties of Customs to be imposed on the
importation or exportation of any goods at any port or place
in the
Province:
|
(2.)
|
The establishment or abolition of any Court of judicature of civil or
criminal jurisdiction, except Courts for trying and punishing
such offences as
by the law of New Zealand are or may be made punishable in a summary way, or
altering the constitution, jurisdiction,
or practice of any such Court except as
afore-said:
|
(3.)
|
Regulating any of the current coin, or the issue of any bills, notes, or
other paper currency:
|
(4.)
|
Regulating the weights and measures to be used in the Province, or in any
part thereof:
|
(5.)
|
Regulating the post offices and the carriage of letters within the
Province:
|
(6.)
|
Establishing, altering, or repealing laws relating to bankruptcy or
insolvency:
|
(7.)
|
The erection and maintenance of beacons and lighthouses on the coast:
|
(8.)
|
The imposition of any clues or other charges on shipping at any port or
harbour in the Province:
|
(9.)
|
Regulating marriages:
|
(10.)
|
Affecting lands of the Crown, or lands to which the title of the aboriginal
native owners has never been extinguished:
|
(11.)
|
Inflicting any disabilities or restrictions on persons of the Native races
to which persons of European birth or descent would not
also be subjected:
|
(12.)
|
Altering in any way the criminal law of New Zealand, except so far as
relates to the trial and punishment of such offences as are
now or may, by the
criminal law of New Zealand, be punishable in a summary way, as aforesaid:
By "The Provincial Councils' Powers Act, 1856," Provincial Legislatures may
create offences under the degree of felony, punishable
with not more than six
months' imprisonment with hard labour, or a penalty of £100.
|
(13.)
|
Regulating the course of inheritance of real or personal property, or
affecting the law relating to wills.
|
20. Every Provincial Council shall, immediately on their first meeting,
and before proceeding to the despatch of any other business,
elect one of their
Members to be the Speaker thereof during the continuance of such Council, which
election being confirmed by the
Superintendent, shall be valid and effectual;
and in ease of vacancy in the said office by death, resignation, or otherwise,
then
and so often as the same shall happen, the election shall be repeated and
confirmed as aforesaid.
21. The Speaker of each Provincial Council shall
preside at the meetings of such Council; but in his absence, some Member elected
by the Council shall preside.
22. No Provincial Council shall be
competent to the despatch of any business, unless one-third of the whole number
of Members be present.
23. All questions which shall arise in any such
Council shall be decided by the majority of votes of the Members present other
than
the Speaker or presiding Member; but, in all eases wherein the votes shall
be equal, the Speaker or presiding Member shall have a
casting vote.
24.
Every Provincial Council, at their first meeting, and from time to time
afterwards, as occasion may require, shall prepare and
adopt such standing rules
and orders as may be best adapted for the orderly conduct of the business of
such Council, which rules
and orders shall be laid before the Superintendent;
and, being by him approved, shall then become binding and in force.
25.
It shall not be lawful for any Provincial Council to pass, or for the
Superintendent to assent to, any Hill appropriating any
money to the public
service, unless the Superintendent shall first have recommended to the Council
to make provision for the specific
service to which such money is to be
appropriated; and no such money shall be issued, or be made issuable, except by
warrants to
be granted by the Superintendent.
26. It shall be lawful for
the Superintendent to transmit to the Provincial Council, for their
consideration, the drafts of any such
laws or ordinances as it may appear to him
desirable to introduce; and all such drafts shall be taken into consideration in
such
convenient manner as in and by such rules and orders as aforesaid shall be
in that behalf provided.
27. Every Bill passed by the Provincial Council
shall be presented to the Superintendent for the Governor's assent; and the
Superintendent
shall declare, according to his discretion (but subject,
nevertheless, to the provisions herein contained, and to such instructions
as
may from time to time be given him by the Governor), that he assents to such
Bill on behalf of the Governor, or that he withholds
the assent of the Governor,
or that he reserves such Bill for the signification of the Governor's pleasure
thereon: Provided always,
that it shall and may be lawful for the
Superintendent, before declaring his pleasure in regard to any Bill so presented
to him,
to make such amendments in such Bill as he thinks needful or expedient,
and to return such Bill with such amendments to such Council,
and the
consideration of such amendments by such Council shall take place in such
convenient manner as shall, in and by the rules
and orders aforesaid, be in that
behalf provided: Provided also, that all Bills altering or affecting the extent
of the several electoral
districts which shall be represented in the Provincial
Council, or establishing new or other such electoral districts, or altering
the
number of the Members of such Council to be chosen by the said districts
respectively, or altering the number of the Members
of such Council, or altering
the limits of any town, or establishing any new town, shall be so reserved as
aforesaid.
28. Whenever any Bill shall have been assented to by the
Superintendent as aforesaid, the Superintendent shall forthwith transmit
to the
Governor an authentic copy thereof.
29. It shall be lawful for the
Governor, at any time within three months after any such Bill shall have been
received by him, to declare,
by Proclamation, his disallowance of such Bill; and
such disallowance shall make void and annul the same, from and after the day
of
the date of such Proclamation, or any subsequent day to be named
therein.
30. No Bill which shall be reserved for the signification of the
assent of the Governor shall have any force and authority within
the Province
until the Superintendent shall signify, cither by speech or message to the
Provincial Council, or by Proclamation in
the Government Gazette, that
such Bill has been laid before the Governor, and that the Governor has assented
to the same; and an entry shall be made in
the journals of the Provincial
Council of every such speech, message, or Proclamation; and a duplicate thereof,
duly attested, shall
be delivered to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, or
other proper officer, to be kept among the records of the Province; and no
Bill
which shall be so reserved, as aforesaid, shall have any force or authority
within the Province, unless the assent of the Governor
thereto shall have been
so signified, as aforesaid, within three months next after the day on which such
Bill shall have been presented
to the Superintendent for the Governor's
assent.
31. It shall be lawful for the Governor, from time to time, to
transmit to the Superintendent of any Province, for his guidance in
assenting to
or withholding assent from bills, or reserving the same for the signification of
the Governor's pleasure thereon, such
instructions as to the Governor shall seem
fit; and it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to act in obedience to such
instructions.
32. There shall be within the Colony of New Zealand a
General Assembly, to consist of the Governor, a Legislative Council, and House
of Representatives.
33. For constituting the Legislative Council of New
Zealand, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, before the time to be appointed for
the first meeting of the General Assembly, by an instrument under her Royal Sign
Manual, to authorize the Governor, in Her Majesty's
name, to summon to the said
Legislative Council such persons, being not less in number than ten, as Her
Majesty shall think fit;
and it shall also be lawful for Her Majesty, from time
to time, in like manner to authorize the Governor to summon to the said
Legislative
Council such other person or persons as Her Majesty shall think fit,
either for supplying any vacancy or vacancies or otherwise;
and every person who
shall be so summoned shall thereby become a Member of the said Legislative
Council:
Provided always, that no person shall be summoned to such
Legislative Council who shall not be of the full age of twenty-one years,
and a
natural-born subject of Her Majesty, or a subject of Her Majesty naturalized by
Act of Parliament, or by an Act of the Legislature
of New Zealand.
34.
Every Member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand shall hold his seat
therein for the term of his life; subject, nevertheless,
to the provisions
hereinafter contained for vacating the same.
35. It shall be lawful for
any Member of the said Legislative Council, by writing under his hand, addressed
to the Governor, to resign
his seat in the said Council; and upon such
resignation and acceptance thereof by the Governor, the seat of such Member
shall become
vacant.
36. If any Legislative Councillor of New Zealand
shall, for two successive sessions of the General Assembly, without the
permission
of Her Majesty or of the Governor, signified by the said Governor to
the Legislative Council, fail to give his attendance in the
said Legislative
Council, or shall take any oath, or make any declaration or acknowledgment of
allegiance, obedience, or adherence
to any foreign Prince or Power, or shall do,
concur in, or adopt any act whereby he may become a subject or citizen of any
foreign
State or Power, or become entitled to the rights, privileges, or
immunities, of a subject or citizen of any foreign State or Power,
or shall
become bankrupt, or shall become an insolvent debtor, within the meaning of the
laws relating to insolvent debtors, or shall
become a public defaulter, or be
attainted of treason, or be convicted of felony, or any infamous crime, his seat
in such Council
shall thereby become vacant.
37. Any question which
shall arise respecting any vacancy in the said Legislative Council, on occasion
of any of the matters aforesaid,
shall be referred by the Governor to the said
Legislative Council, to be by the said Legislative Council heard and determined:
Provided
always, that it shall be lawful, either for the person respecting whose
scat such question shall have arisen, or for Her Majesty's
Attorney-General for
New Zealand on Her Majesty's behalf, to appeal from the determination of the
said Council in such case to Her
Majesty; and the judgment of Her Majesty, given
with the advice of Her Privy Council thereon, shall be final and conclusive to
all
intents and purposes.
38. The Governor shall have power and authority
from time to time to appoint one Member of the said Legislative Council to be
Speaker
of such Council, and to remove him and appoint another in his
stead.
39. The presence of at least five Members of the said Legislative
Council, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute
a meeting for
the exercise of its powers; and all questions which shall arise in the said
Legislative Council shall be decided by
a majority of votes of the Members
present other than the Speaker, and when the votes shall be equal, the Speaker
shall have the
casting vote.
40. For the purpose of constituting the
House of Representatives of New Zealand, it shall be lawful for the Governor,
within the time
hereinafter mentioned, and thereafter from time to time as
occasion shall require, by Proclamation in Her Majesty's name, to summon
and
call together a House of Representatives in and for New Zealand, such House of
Representatives to consist of such number of Members
not more than forty-two nor
less than twenty-four, as the Governor shall by Proclamation in that behalf
direct and appoint; and
every such House of Representatives shall, unless the
General Assembly shall be sooner dissolved, continue for the period of five
years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing such House, and no
longer.
41. It shall be lawful for the Governor, by Proclamation, to
constitute within New Zealand convenient electoral districts for the
election of
Members of the said House of Representatives, and to appoint and declare the
number of such Members to be elected for
each such district, and to make
provision (so far as may be necessary beyond the provision which may be made for
the like purposes
in relation to elections for Provincial Councils) for the
registration and revision of lists of all persons qualified to vote at
the
elections to be holden within such districts, and also provision for the
appointing of Returning Officers, and for issuing, executing,
and returning the
necessary writs for elections of Members of the House of Representatives, and
for taking the poll thereat, and
otherwise for ensuring the orderly, effective,
and impartial conduct of such elections; and in determining the number and
extent
of such electoral districts, and the number of Members to be elected for
each district, regard shall be had to the number of electors
within the same, so
that the number of Members to be assigned to any one district may bear to the
whole number of the Members of
the House of Representatives, as nearly as may
be, the same proportion as the number of electors within such district shall
bear
to the whole number of electors in New Zealand.
42. The Members of
the said House of Representatives to be chosen in every electoral district
appointed for that purpose, shall be
chosen by the votes of the inhabitants of
New Zealand who shall possess within such district the like qualifications
which, when
possessed within an electoral district appointed for the election of
Members of the Provincial Council, would entitle inhabitants
of the Province to
vote in the election of Members of the Provincial Council thereof, and who shall
be duly registered as electors;
and every person legally qualified as such
elector shall be qualified to be elected a Member of the said House.
43.
The Governor shall cause the first writs for the election of Members of the said
House of Representatives to be issued at some
time not later than six calendar
months next after the proclamation of this Act in New Zealand; and upon the
expiration of the said
period of the continuance of the House of
Representatives, or upon the previous determination of such House by the
dissolution of
the General Assembly, the Governor shall cause writs to be issued
for the election of Members of the ensuing House of Representatives.
44.
The General Assembly of New Zealand shall be holden at any place and time within
New Zealand which the Governor shall from time
to time by Proclamation for that
purpose appoint; and the time so to be appointed for the first holding of such
General Assembly
shall be as soon as conveniently may be after the return of the
first writs for the election of Members of the said House of Representatives;
and the Governor may, at his pleasure, prorogue or dissolve the General
Assembly.
45. The said House of Representatives shall, until provision be
made otherwise in that behalf by law, be judges, without appeal, of
the validity
of the election of each Member thereof.
46. No Member of the said
Legislative Council or House of Representatives shall be permitted to sit or
vote therein until he shall
have taken and subscribed the following oath before
the Governor, or before some person or persons authorized by him to administer
such oath:—
"I, A.B., do sincerely promise and swear that I will be
faithful, and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. So help
me
God.'"
47. Every person authorized by law to make his solemn affirmation
or declaration, instead of taking an oath, may make such affirmation
or
declaration in lieu of the said oath.
48. The said House of
Representatives shall, immediately on their first meeting, proceed to the choice
of one of their Members as
their Speaker during the continuance of the said
House, which choice, being confirmed by the Governor, shall be valid and
effectual;
and in case of vacancy of the office by death, resignation, or
otherwise, then and so often as the same shall happen, the choice
shall be
repeated and confirmed as aforesaid.
49. It shall be lawful for any
Member of the said House of Representatives, by writing under his hand addressed
to the Speaker of
the said House, to resign his seat in the said House, and upon
such resignation the seat of such Member shall become vacant.
50. If any
Member of the said House of Representatives shall, for one whole session of the
General Assembly, without the permission
of such House, fail to give his
attendance in the said House, or shall take any oath, or make any declaration or
acknowledgment of
allegiance, obedience, or adherence, to any foreign Prince or
Power, or do, or concur in, or adopt any act whereby he may become
a subject or
citizen of any foreign State or Power, or become entitled to the rights,
privileges, or immunities of a subject of any
foreign State or Power, or shall
become bankrupt, or shall become an insolvent debtor within the meaning of the
laws relating to
insolvent debtors, or shall become a public defaulter, or be
attainted of treason, or be convicted of felony or any infamous crime,
his scat
in such House shall thereby become vacant.
51. When and so often as a
vacancy shall occur as aforesaid in any seat in the said House of
Representatives, it shall and may be
lawful for such House to address the
Governor, stating the existence of such vacancy, and the cause thereof; and the
Governor, upon
receiving such address, shall cause a writ to be issued for
supplying such vacancy.
52. The said Legislative Council and House of
Representatives, at the first sitting of each respectively, and from time to
time afterwards
as there shall be occasion, shall prepare and adopt such
standing rules and orders as shall appear to the said Council and House
of
Representatives respectively best adapted for the orderly conduct of the
business of such Council and House respectively, and
for the manner in which
such Council and House respectively shall be presided over in case of the
absence of the Speaker, and for
the mode in which such Council and House shall
confer, correspond, and communicate with each other relative to votes or Bills
passed
by or pending in such Council and House respectively, and for the manner
in which notices of Bills, Resolutions, and other business
intended to be
submitted to such Council and House respectively at any session thereof, may be
published in the Government Gazette, or otherwise, for general
information, for some convenient space or time before the meeting of such
Council and House respectively,
and for the proper framing, entitling, and
numbering of the Bills to be introduced into and passed by the said Council and
House
of Representatives, all of which rules and orders shall by such Council
and House respectively be laid before the Governor, and being
by him approved,
shall become binding and of force; but subject, nevertheless, to the
confirmation or disallowance of Her Majesty
in manner hereinafter provided
respecting the acts to be made by the Governor, with the advice and consent of
the said Legislative
Council and House of Representatives: Provided, that no
such rule or order shall be of force to subject any person, not being a Member
or Officer of the Council or House to which it relates, to any pain, penalty, or
forfeiture.
53. It shall be competent to the said General Assembly
(except and subject as hereinafter mentioned) to make laws for the peace,
order,
and good government of New Zealand, provided that no such laws be repugnant to
the law of England; and the laws so to be made
by the said General Assembly
shall control and supersede any laws or ordinances in anywise repugnant thereto,
which may have been
made or ordained prior thereto by any Provincial Council;
and any law or ordinance made or ordained by any Provincial Council, in
pursuance of the authority hereby conferred upon it, and on any subject whereon,
under such authority as aforesaid, it is entitled
to legislate, shall, so far as
the same is repugnant to, or inconsistent with, any Act passed by the General
Assembly, be null and
void.
54. It shall not be lawful for the House of
Representatives or the Legislative Council to pass, or for the Governor to
assent to,
any Bill appropriating to the public service any sum of money from or
out of Her Majesty's revenue within New Zealand, unless the
Governor, on Her
Majesty's behalf, shall first have recommended to the House of Representatives
to make provision for the specific
public service towards which such money is to
be appropriated, and (save as herein otherwise provided) no part of Her
Majesty's revenue
within New Zealand shall be issued, except in pursuance of
warrants under the hand of the Governor, directed to the public Treasurer
thereof.
55. It shall and may be lawful for the Governor to transmit by
message to either the said Legislative Council or the said House of
Representatives, for their consideration, the drafts of any laws which it may
appear to him desirable to introduce, and all such
drafts shall be taken into
consideration in such convenient manner as shall, in and by the rules and orders
aforesaid, be in that
behalf provided.
56. Whenever any Bill which has
been passed by the said Legislative Council and House of Representatives shall
be presented for Her
Majesty's assent to the Governor, he shall declare
according to his discretion, but subject, nevertheless, to the provisions
contained
in this Act, and to such instructions as may from time to time be
given in that behalf by Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, that
he assents to
such Bill in Her Majesty's name, or that he refuses his assent to such Bill, or
that he reserves such Bill for the
signification of Her Majesty's pleasure
thereon: Provided always, that it shall and may be lawful for the Governor,
before declaring
his pleasure in regard to any Bill so presented to him, to make
such amendments in such Bill as he thinks needful or expedient, and
by message
to return such Bill with such amendments to the Legislative Council or the House
of Representatives, as he shall think
the more fitting, and the consideration of
such amendments by the said Council and House respectively shall take place in
such convenient
manner as shall, in and by the rules and orders aforesaid, be in
that behalf provided.
57. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, with the
advice of Her Privy Council, or under Her Majesty's Signet and Sign Manual, or
through
one of her Principal Secretaries of State, from time to time to convey
to the Governor of New Zealand such instructions as to Her
Majesty shall seem
meet, for the guidance of such Governor, for the exercise of the powers hereby
vested in him, of assenting to,
or dissenting from, or for reserving for the
signification of Her Majesty's pleasure, Bills to be passed by the said
Legislative
Council and House of Representatives; and it shall be the duty of
such Governor to act in obedience to such instructions.
58. Whenever any
Bill which shall have been presented for Her Majesty's assent to the Governor
shall by such Governor have been assented
to in Her Majesty's name, he shall, by
the first convenient opportunity, transmit to one of Her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of
State an authentic copy of such Bill so assented to; and it shall
be lawful, at any time within two years after such Bill shall have
been received
by the Secretary of State, for Her Majesty, by Order in Council, to declare her
disallowance of such Bill; and such
disallowance, together with a certificate
under the hand and seal of the Secretary of State, certifying the day on which
such Bill
was received as aforesaid, being signified by the Governor to the said
Legislative Council and House of Representatives by speech
or message, or by
proclamation in the Government Gazette, shall make void and annul the
same, from and after the day of such signification.
59. No Bill which
shall be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon shall
have any force or authority within
New Zealand until the Governor shall signify,
either by speech or message to the said Legislative Council and House of
Representatives,
or by Proclamation, that such Bill has been laid before Her
Majesty in Council, and that Her Majesty has been pleased to assent
to the
same; and an entry shall be made in the Journals of the said Legislative Council
and House of Representatives of every such
speech, message, or proclamation, and
a duplicate thereof, duly attested, shall be delivered to the Registrar of the
Supreme Court,
or other proper officer, to be kept among the records of New
Zealand; and no Bill which shall be so reserved as aforesaid shall have
any
force or authority within New Zealand, unless Her Majesty's assent thereto shall
have been so signified as aforesaid within the
space of two years from the day
on which such Bill shall have been presented for Her Majesty's assent to the
Governor as aforesaid.
60. The Governor shall cause every Act of the said
General Assembly which he shall have assented to in Her Majesty's name to be
printed
in the Government Gazette for general information, and such
publication by such Governor of any such Act shall be deemed to be in law the
promulgation of the
same.
61. It shall not be lawful for the said General
Assembly to levy any duty upon articles imported for the supply of Her Majesty's
land
or sea forces, or to levy any duty, impose any prohibition or restriction,
or grant any exemptions, bounty, drawback, or other privilege
upon the
importation or exportation of any articles, or to impose any clues or charges
upon shipping contrary to, or at variance
with, any treaty or treaties concluded
by Her Majesty with any foreign Power.
62. The Governor is hereby
authorized and required to pay, out of the revenue arising from taxes, duties,
rates, and imposts, levied
under any Act or Acts of the said General Assembly,
and from the disposal of waste lands of the Crown, all the costs, charges, and
expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof; also to
pay out of the said revenue arising from the disposal
of waste lands of the
Crown such sums as may become payable under the provisions hereinafter
contained, for or on account of the
purchase of land from aboriginal natives or
the release or extinguishment of their rights in any land, and such sums as may
become
payable to the New Zealand Company under the provisions of this Act in
respect of the sale or alienation of land: Provided always,
that full and
particular accounts of all such disbursements shall from time to time be laid
before the said Legislative Council and
House of Representatives.
63. All
costs, charges, and expenses, of or incident to the collection, management, and
receipt of duties of import and export shall
be regulated and audited in such
manner as shall be directed by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury of
the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland; and all such costs, charges,
and expenses in relation to other branches of the said revenue shall be
regulated and audited in such manner as shall be directed by laws of the said
General Assembly.
64. There shall be payable to Her Majesty, every year,
out of the revenue arising from such taxes, duties, rates, and imposts, and
from
the disposal of such waste lands of the Crown in New Zealand, the several sums
mentioned in the schedule to this Act; such
several sums to be paid for
defraying the expenses of the services and purposes mentioned in such schedule,
and to be issued by the
Treasurer of New Zealand in discharge of such warrants
as shall be from time to time directed to him under the hand and seal of the
Governor; and the said Treasurer shall account to Her Majesty for the same
through the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury of
the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, in such manner and form as Her Majesty shall be
graciously pleased to direct.
65. It shall be lawful for the General
Assembly of New Zealand, by any Act or Acts, to alter all or any of the sums
mentioned in the
said schedule, and the appropriation of such sums to the
services and purposes therein mentioned; but every Bill which shall be passed
by
the said Legislative Council and House of Representatives altering the salary of
the Governor, or altering the sum described as
for Native purposes, shall be
reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon, and until and
subject to such alteration
by Act or Acts as aforesaid, the salaries of the
Governor and Judges shall be those respectively set against their several
offices
in the said schedule; and accounts in detail of the expenditure of the
several sums for the time being appropriated under this Act,
or such Act or Acts
as aforesaid of the said General Assembly, to the several services and purposes
mentioned in the said schedule,
shall be laid before the said Legislative
Council and House of Representatives within thirty days next after the beginning
of the
Session after such expenditure shall have been made: Provided always,
that it shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly,
by any such Act as
aforesaid, to make any diminution in the salary of any Judge, to take effect
during the continuance in office
of any person being such Judge at the time of
the passing of such Act.
66. After and subject to the payments to be
made under the provisions hereinbefore contained, all the revenue arising from
taxes,
duties, rates, and imposts levied in virtue of any Act of the General
Assembly, and from the disposal of waste lands of the Crown,
under any such Act
made in pursuance of the authority herein contained, shall be subject to be
appropriated to such specific purposes
as by any Act of the said General
Assembly shall be prescribed in that behalf; and the surplus of such revenue
which shall not be
appropriated as aforesaid, shall be divided among the several
Provinces for the time being established in New Zealand under or by
virtue of
this Act, in the like proportion as the gross proceeds of the said revenue shall
have arisen therein respectively, and
shall be paid over to the respective
Treasuries of such Provinces for the public uses thereof, and shall be subject
to the appropriation
of the respective Provincial Councils of such Provinces.
67. It shall he lawful for the said General Assembly, Power to General
Assembly to alter electoral districts and number of Members
of House of
Representatives. by any Act or Acts, from time to time, to establish new
electoral districts for the purpose of electing
Members of the said House of
Representatives, to alter the boundaries of electoral districts for the time
being existing for such
purposes, to alter and appoint the number of Members to
be chosen for such districts, to increase the whole number of Members of
the
said House of Representatives, and to alter and regulate the appointment of
Returning Officers, and make provision in such manner
as they may deem expedient
for the issue and return of writs for the election of the Members of such House,
and the time and place
of holding such elections, and for the determination of
contested elections for such House.
68. It shall be lawful for the said
General Assembly, by any Act or Acts, to alter from time to time any provisions
of this Act, and
any laws for the time being in force concerning the election of
Members of the said House of Representatives, and the qualification
of electors
and Members: Provided, that every Bill for any of such purposes shall be
reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's
pleasure thereon, and a copy of
such Bill shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament for the space of thirty
days at the least
before Her Majesty's pleasure thereon shall be
signified.
69. It shall be lawful for the said General Assembly, by any
Act or Acts, from time to time, to constitute new Provinces in New Zealand,
to
direct and appoint the number of Members of which the Provincial Councils
thereof shall consist, and to alter the boundaries of
any Provinces for the time
being existing, and to alter the provisions of this Act, and any laws for the
time being in force respecting
the election of Members of the Provincial
Councils, the powers of such Councils, and the distribution of the said surplus
revenue
between the several Provinces of New Zealand:
Provided always, that
any Bill for any of the said purposes shall be reserved for the signification of
Her Majesty's pleasure thereon.
70. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty,
in and by any Letters Patent to be issued under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom, from
time to time, to constitute and establish within any district or
districts of New Zealand one or more Municipal Corporation or Corporations,
and
to grant to any such Corporation all or any of the powers which, in pursuance of
the Statutes in that behalf made and provided,
it is competent to Her Majesty to
grant to the inhabitants of any town or borough in England and Wales
incorporated in virtue of
such Statutes or any of them, and to qualify and
restrict the exercise of any such powers in such and the same manner as by the
Statutes
aforesaid, or any of them, Her Majesty may qualify or restrict the
exercise of any such powers as aforesaid in England: Provided
always, that all
provisions of any such Letters Patent, and all bye-laws or regulations made by
any such Corporation, shall be subject
to alteration or repeal by any Ordinance
or Act of the Provincial Council for the Province in which any such Corporation
may be established,
or of the General Assembly, according to their respective
powers hereinbefore declared.
71. And whereas it may be expedient that
the laws, customs, and usages of the Aboriginal or Native inhabitants of New
Zealand, so
far as they are not repugnant to the general principles of humanity,
should for the present be maintained for the government of them-selves
in all
their relations to and dealings with each other, and that particular districts
should be set apart within which such laws,
customs, or usages should be so
observed:
It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any Letters Patent to be
issued under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, from time to time
to make
provision for the purposes aforesaid, any repugnancy of any such Native laws,
customs, or usages to the law of England, or
to any law, statute, or usage in
force in New Zealand, or in any part thereof, in anywise notwithstanding.
72. Subject to the provisions herein contained, it shall be lawful for the
said General Assembly to make laws for regulating the sale,
letting, disposal,
and occupation of the waste lands of the Crown in New Zealand; and all lands
wherein the title of Natives shall
be extinguished as hereinafter mentioned, and
all such other lands as are described in an Act of the Session holden in the
tenth
and eleventh years of Her Majesty, chapter one hundred and twelve, to
promote Colonization in New Zealand, and to authorize a loan
to the New Zealand
Company, as demesne lands of the Crown, shall be deemed and taken to be waste
'lands of the Crown within the meaning
of this Act: Provided always, that,
subject to the said provisions, and until the said General Assembly shall
otherwise enact, it
shall be lawful for Her Majesty to regulate such sale,
letting, disposal, and occupation, by instructions to be issued under the
Signet
and Royal Sign Manual.
73. It shall not be lawful for any person other than
Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, to purchase, or in anywise acquire or
accept,
from the Aboriginal Natives, land of or belonging to or used or occupied
by them in common as tribes or communities, or to accept
any release or
extinguishment of the rights of such Aboriginal Natives in any such land as
aforesaid; and no conveyance or transfer,
or agreement for the conveyance or
transfer, of any such land, either in perpetuity or for any term or period,
either absolutely
or conditionally, and either in property or by way of lease or
occupancy, and no such release or extinguishment, as aforesaid, shall
be of any
validity or effect, unless the same be made to, or entered into with, and
accepted by, Her Majesty, her heirs or successors:
Provided always, that it
shall be lawful for Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, by instructions under
the Signet and Royal Sign
Manual, or signified through one of Her Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of State, to delegate her powers of accepting such
conveyances
or agreements, releases or relinquishments, to the Governor of New
Zealand, or the Superintendent of any Province within the limits
of such
Province, and to prescribe or regulate the terms on which such conveyances or
agreements, releases or extinguishments, shall
be accepted.
74. And
whereas, under and by virtue of the said last-mentioned Act, and of a notice
given on the fourth day of July, one thousand
eight hundred and fifty, by the
New Zealand Company, in pursuance of such Act, the sum of two hundred and
sixty-eight thousand three
hundred and seventy pounds fifteen shillings, with
interest after the yearly rate of three pounds ten shillings per centum upon the
said sum, or so much thereof as shall from time to time remain unpaid, is
charged upon and payable to the New Zealand Company out
of the proceeds of the
sales of the demesne lands of the Crown in New Zealand:
In respect of all
sales or other alienations of any waste lands of the Crown in New Zealand in
fee-simple, or for any less estate
or interest (except by way of license for
occupation for pastoral purposes for any term of years not exceeding seven, and
not containing
any contract for the renewal of the same, or for a further
estate, interest, or license, or by way of reservation of such lands as
may be
required for public roads or other internal communications, whether by land or
water, or for the use or benefit of the aboriginal
inhabitants of the country,
or for purposes of military defence, or as the sites of places of public
worship, schools, or other public
buildings, or as places for the interment of
the dead, or places for the recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of any
town
or village, or as the sites of public quays or landing-places on the sea
coast or shores of navigable streams, or for any other purpose
of public safety,
convenience, health, or enjoyment), there shall be paid to the said New Zealand
Company, towards the discharge
of the principal sum and interest charged as
aforesaid, in lieu of all and every other claim of the said Company in respect
of the
said sum, except where otherwise hereinafter provided, so long as the
same or any part thereof respectively shall remain unpaid,
one fourth part of
the sum paid by the purchaser in respect of every such sale or alienation:
Provided always, that it shall be lawful
for the New Zealand Company, by any
resolution of a majority of the proprietors of the said Company present at any
meeting of such
proprietors, and certified under the common seal of such
Company, to release all or any part of the said lands from the moneys or
payment
charged thereon by the said Act, or this Act, or any part of such moneys or
payment, either absolutely, or upon any terms
or conditions, as such proprietors
may think fit.
75. It shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly
to repeal or interfere with all or any of the provisions of an Act of the
Session holden in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter
seventy, intituled, "An Act empowering the Canterbury
Association to dispose of
certain Lands in New Zealand," or of an Act passed in the Session then next
following, chapter eighty-four,
to alter and amend the said first-mentioned Act:
Provided always, that, on the expiration or sooner determination of the
functions,
powers, and authorities now vested in, or lawfully exercised by the
said Association, the provisions of the present Act shall come
into force as
regards the lands to which the said Acts relate.
76. It shall be lawful
for the Canterbury Association, at any time after a Provincial Council shall
have been constituted under this
Act for the Province of Canterbury, to transfer
to the said Council all such functions, powers, and authorities, and the said
Council
is hereby empowered to accept such transfer, upon such terms and
conditions as shall be agreed upon between the said Council and
the said
Association: Provided always, that nothing contained in such terms and
conditions shall interfere with the rights of Her
Majesty, her heirs and
successors, or of the New Zealand Company, respectively; and from and after such
time as shall be agreed upon
between the said Council and the said Association,
the said Council, shall have and be entitled to exercise all the said functions,
powers, and authorities.
77. Nothing in this Act, or in any Act, Law, or
Ordinance to be made by the said General Assembly, or by any Provincial
Assembly,
shall affect or interfere with so much of an Act of the Session holden
in the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter
eighty-six,
intituled "An Act to regulate the affairs of certain Settlements established by
the New Zealand Company in New Zealand,"
as relates to the administration of the
funds for the public purposes of the Settlement of Nelson.
78. And
whereas certain terms of purchase and pasturage of land in the Settlement of
Otago had been issued by the New Zealand Company
before the fourth day of July,
one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the said terms, or part of them, were
in force on that day
as contracts between the New Zealand Company and the
Association of Lay Members of the Free Church of Scotland, commonly called the
Otago Association: And whereas, by the provisions of the said Act of the tenth
and eleventh years of Her Majesty, and of the said
notice given by the New
Zealand Company, the lands of the said Company in New Zealand reverted to and
became vested in Her Majesty
as part of the demesne lands of the Crown, subject
nevertheless to any contract then subsisting in regard to any of the said lands:
And whereas it is expedient that provision should be made to enable Her Majesty
to fulfil the contracts contained in such terms of
purchase and pasturage as
aforesaid:
It shall be lawful for Her Majesty for that purpose to make
provision, by way of regulations to be contained in any charter to be
granted to
the said Association, for the disposal of the lands to which the said terms of
purchase and pasturage relate, so far as
the same are still in force as
aforesaid, and for varying from time to time such regulations, with such consent
by or on behalf of
the said Association as in any such charter or instructions
shall be specified, and for fixing the boundaries thereof, and for enabling
the
said Association to transfer its powers to the Provincial Council for the
Province of Otago: Provided always, that no such charter
shall be granted or
have effect for any longer term than ten years from the passing of this Act; but
one of Her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State may at any time during the
term for which such charter shall be granted, by writing under his hand, extend
the
term for which such charter shall have been granted for such further time as
in his discretion he may think fit: Provided always,
that it shall not be lawful
for Her Majesty, by any such regulations as aforesaid, to diminish the sum now
payable to the New Zealand
Company in respect of all waste land sold under the
said terms of purchase, unless with the consent of the New Zealand Company,
signified
as hereinbefore provided; and during the continuance of such charter
as aforesaid, it shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly
to repeal or
interfere with any such regulations respecting lands in Otago, except with such
consent by or on behalf of the Otago
Association as in any such charter or
instructions may be provided, and (so far as the rights of the New Zealand
Company may be affected)
with the consent of such Company signified as
hereinbefore provided; and every Bill which shall repeal or interfere with any
such
regulations shall be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's
pleasure thereon.
79. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any such
Letters Patent as aforesaid, or Instructions under Her Majesty's Signet and Sign
Manual, or signified through one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of
State, to delegate to the Governor any of the powers hereinbefore
reserved to
Her Majesty respecting the removal of Superintendents of Provinces, and the
regulation of the sale, letting, disposal,
and occupation of waste lands, the
establishment of municipal corporations, and the preservation of Aboriginal
laws, customs, and
usages.
80. In the construction of this Act, the term
"Governor" shall mean the person for the time being lawfully administering the
Government
of New Zealand; and for the purposes of this Act "New Zealand" shall
be held to include all territories, islands, and countries lying
between
thirty-three degrees of South latitude and fifty degrees of South latitude, and
one hundred and sixty-two degrees of East
longitude and one hundred and
seventy-three degrees of West longitude, reckoning from the meridian of
Greenwich.
81. This Act shall be proclaimed in New Zealand by the
Governor thereof within six weeks after a copy of such Act shall have been
received by such Governor, and, save as herein expressly provided, shall take
effect in New Zealand from the day of such Proclamation
thereof.
82. The
Proclamation of this Act, and all Proclamations to be made under the provisions
thereof, shall be published in the New Zealand
Government Gazette.
Schedule Referred To In The Foregoing Act.
|
|
Governor
|
£2,500
|
Chief Justice
|
1,000
|
Puisné Judge
|
800
|
Establishment of the General Government
|
4,700
|
Native Purposes
|
7,000
|
|
£16,000
|
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