LAWS110: Constitutional Law 2

Te Reo Maori Quiz

Laws 110 assessment: Te Reo Maori quiz.
Glossary is available on Learn and in the Laws 101 tutorial book.
Glossary covers legal institutions (courts, tribunals), professional bodies (Law Society, Maori Law Society), legal terms (case, judgment), and terms used in Laws 110 (Parliament, Courts, Government).
Quiz is open for a week, starting next Monday.
Attend the Te Reo Maori workshop.
Familiarize yourself with the glossary and resources on Learn.
Videos are available on Learn for pronunciation and context of terms.
Pay attention to macrons (tohuto) which signify long vowels.
Example: Kehi (case); Kehi without macron would be written with a double e.
Instructions are provided for setting up the keyboard to use macrons.
If using a macron is difficult, use the double vowel alternative.
Copy-pasting is also an option for macrons.
Not using the macron or double vowel will result in half a mark.
Example questions:
- What is the Te Reo Maori term for the New Zealand parliament? Answer: Paumata.
- What is the English name for Te Kahui Tureo Aotearoa? Answer: New Zealand Law Society.
- If someone is a person of mana, they are a person of authority. Answer: True.
- Which of the following is a real court? Example: Te Koti Pira Maori or Te Arowa (Court of Appeal).
Question bank contains about 50 questions.
You will get 20 questions in a random order.
Once you open the quiz, you have 30 minutes to complete it.
Results will be available once the quiz closes.
Do not put full stops at the end of your answers.
Self-marking quiz is not intelligent and will mark answers with full stops as wrong.
Email if this happens, and it will be fixed.
It's just one attempt.
Open book quiz.
It only includes terms from the glossary.
Some questions require thinking and applying the definition of terms like mana (authority, sovereignty).

Constitutional Concepts

Brief introduction to four key constitutional concepts:
- Separation of powers.
- Parliamentary sovereignty.
- Rule of law.
- Democracy.
Will use the Fitzgerald and Muldoon case to illustrate these concepts.

Three Branches of Government

Parliament (Paremata).
Executive (Kawanatanga).
Judiciary (Nga Koti).

Separation of Powers

Attributed to Baron de Montesquieu in "The Spirit of the Laws" (1748).
Government should be made up of the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
Each branch balances the other.
No single branch should be too powerful.
Acts as a check and balance.
Ensures accountability between the branches.
In New Zealand, there's fused power or an overlap between branches, unlike strict separation.
Overlap between Parliament and the Executive.
Cabinet members are also members of Parliament (MPs).
Currently, there are $123$ MPs, and $28$ of them are in the cabinet.
If the cabinet wants Parliament to pass a law, it can direct MPs to vote for it.
Example: Passing of pay equity legislation quickly because the cabinet decided and National, ACT, and NZ First MPs voted for it.
Advantage: Efficiency.
Disadvantage: Lack of scrutiny and executive dominance.
Executive dominance contradicts the idea that no one branch should be too powerful.

Parliamentary Sovereignty

Paradox: Executive dominance in reality, but Parliament is sovereign.
Parliament can pass or repeal any law.
Example: Parliament could theoretically pass a law that orders all all black supporters should be killed.
Three key points about parliamentary sovereignty:
- Parliament is the supreme lawmaking body.
- Statutes are the highest source of law.
- Only Parliament can set aside or repeal an act of parliament (repeal, not upheal).
If Parliament doesn't like what the courts have done (case law/common law), it can pass a statute to overturn the court's decision.
Courts have to follow parliament's laws and can't overturn them.
If parliament did pass a law, all all black supporters shall be killed, we can't go to the courts and say that breaches human rights. The courts will just say, sorry. That's parliament's law. Can't do anything about it.
Main limit on parliamentary sovereignty: Voting the government out.
Elections happen every three years and lack nuance.
Rebellion and protests can also act as a limit.
Elections are the main limit.

Rule of Law

Protects citizens from arbitrary state action.
Police need a warrant to search your house.
Five key points about rule of law:
- Everybody is equal under the law.
- Government is subject to the law.
- Lawmaking is conducted in public (Parliament TV).
- Courts are open to the public (with some exceptions).
- Decisions should be made in accordance with predetermined processes.
Referred to in the Supreme Court Act 2003.

Democracy

Underlying principle of the constitution (Sir Ken Keith).
The king reigns, but the government executive rules, provided it has the support of a majority in Parliament.
To be the executive, you need to be able to get 62 people to vote for you in parliament.
Parliament is the most democratic branch because we vote for these people.
Judges are not voted for.
If there's a question about who should do what, or what the answer should be, think about what the answer should be from a democracy point of view.

Fitzgerald and Muldoon Case

Arises from Muldoon's actions after being elected Prime Minister in 1975.
Labor government (1972-1975) introduced a national superannuation scheme (predecessor to KiwiSaver).
Implemented through the New Zealand Superannuation Act 1974, effective 01/1975.
National Party promised to repeal the act.
Superannuation scheme was compulsory.
National wins the election, getting $55$ members of parliament, Labour gets $32$ .
Landslide victory due to unpopularity of the superannuation scheme.
Parliament wouldn't meet until June 1976 because being an MP was basically a part time job.
Muldoon issued a press release on December 15, stating that compulsory deductions would cease immediately.
A second press statement reiterated this and stated retrospective legislation would be passed in June 1976.
The problem: The New Zealand Superannuation Act 1974 was still law, so executive can't repeal a law by a press release especially with a statute in effect requiring contributions.
Paul Fitzgerald, a junior clerk, took on Muldoon.
Fitzgerald's salary was $5,424 a year, and he was entitled to $1.04$ a week.
Fitzgerald argued Muldoon violated section one of the Bill of Rights 1688.
The Bill of Rights says that the power of suspending laws by regal authority without consent is illegal.
Fitzgerald asked the court to declare Muldoon's press release illegal and restart the scheme.
The claim files in April 1976 and the hearing comes on quite fast.
Hearing in the Supreme Court before Chief Justice Wylde.
Wylde gave judgment on June 11, declaring the press release illegal.
He agreed that the press release was a breach of section one of the sixteen eighty eight, bill of rights. Press release is illegal.
Wylde adjourned everything else for six months, refusing to restart the scheme because of the upcoming parliamentary meeting.
He basically says, there's too much admin to restart because of the voting scheme.
Jeffrey Palmer called the decision a great judgment affirming constitutional arrangements.
The judgment affirms our four key principles.
Affirms parliamentary sovereignty because the executive can't repeal a law via press release.
Affirms separation of powers, even with a landslide victory, the executive can't repeal a law because that's the job of parliament.
Affirms rule of law because even the prime minister isn't above the law and must follow existing statutes.
Affirms democracy because Chief Justice Wilde didn't restart the scheme.
That means if parliament didn't repeal the law, they could have come back.
On June 25, a superannuation repeal bill was introduced, and on July 23, the superannuation repeal act became effective.
Fitzgerald stayed as a public servant and didn't lose his job.
Muldoon has a follow-up at the end of his term.
*Andrew Hoggard, okay, minister for the environment, to do this. He was stomped on because people knew about it.