The New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947 (New Zealand public act no. 38) and New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 4) were two enactments passed by the

Parliament of New Zealand The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...

and

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

respectively. The Acts contributed to the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, by granting the Parliament of New Zealand the complete ability to amend the

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such Act, the previous 1846 Act not having been fully ...

, an enactment of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established the institutions of responsible government in New Zealand.

Background

When the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was passed, the General Assembly established under the Act was unable to amend or repeal the Act. In 1857 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1857, which allowed the New Zealand General Assembly the ability to amend certain provisions of the Act. This was taken up by the New Provinces Act 1858, and eventually the Abolition of the Provinces Act 1867. When New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931 with the

Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 (Public Act no. 38 of 1947) was a constitutional Act of the New Zealand Parliament that formally accepted the full external autonomy offered by the British Parliament. By passing the Act on 25 November ...

, the Parliament of New Zealand gained the ability to amend all enactments that were passed for New Zealand by the British Parliament. As the 1857 Act barred the Parliament of New Zealand from amending the sections of the Constitution Act relating to parliament itself, the New Zealand Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947. This was largely due to the desire of the opposition to abolish the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a col ...

, the upper house, which was barred by the 1857 Act.

Effect

The New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947, requested that the Parliament of the United Kingdom amend the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and consented to such changes (as required by the

). This is the only example of the Parliament of New Zealand requesting the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate on New Zealand's behalf. The British Parliament consented to the request by passing the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947. The British Act was granted royal assent on 10 December 1947. The Legislative Council was abolished in 1951. In the 1980s, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand severed their last remaining constitutional links to the United Kingdom. However, Canada and Australia could not amend their constitutions without British approval. When Canada passed the

Constitution Act, 1982 The ''Constitution Act, 1982'' (french: link=no, Loi constitutionnelle de 1982) is a part of the Constitution of Canada.Formally enacted as Schedule B of the ''Canada Act 1982'', enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 60 of t ...

, it had to be approved by the British Parliament in the

Canada Act 1982 The Canada Act 1982 (1982 c. 11; french: Loi de 1982 sur le Canada) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and one of the enactments which make up the Constitution of Canada. It was enacted at the request of the Senate and House ...

. The

Australia Act 1986 The Australia Act 1986 is the short title of each of a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth (i.e. federal) Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In ...

was also passed by both the Australian and British parliaments. However, the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947 fully allowed New Zealand to amend its own constitution without British approval. Therefore, the New Zealand Parliament could pass the

Constitution Act 1986 The Constitution Act 1986 is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament that forms a major part of the constitution of New Zealand. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles of governance, and establishes the powers of the ...

without the need of approval by the British Parliament.

Repeal

The Acts were repealed as an element of New Zealand law by section 28 of the

. The UK act was repealed as an element of UK law by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989.

References

External links

Text of the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947

Text of the New Zealand Constitution (Amendment) Act 1947
(UK)
New Zealand Parliament - New Zealand sovereignty: 1857, 1907, 1947, or 1987?
{{UK legislation Constitution of New Zealand British Empire History of the Commonwealth of Nations 1947 in New Zealand law Repealed New Zealand legislation 1947 in international relations New Zealand–United Kingdom relations New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations

Background

Effect

Repeal

See also

References

External links