Excellent constitutional ideas from ACT

ACT have proposed a number of good constitutional ideas. They are:

Add to the Constitution Act 1986:

• Parliament is sovereign;
• the rule of law is fundamental; and
• all New Zealanders are equal before the law.

The Constitution Act is not supreme law. So putting these principles in there doesn’t impact any particular court decisions, but it is an important assertion of democratic values.

ACT will add property rights to the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, giving stronger protection to your home, farm, business, and other property.

The Bill of Rights Act is also not supreme law, but it does have significant impact. Courts need to find a BORA compliant interpretation where possible when deciding cases. So including property rights in the BORA will significantly strengthen property rights. It won’t make property rights the only factor in a case, but it will make them more important – which is good. Property rights are the reasons some countries have economies 10 times stronger than others. They matter.

We will amend the Legislation Act 2019 to ensure statutes mean what Parliament enacted, read in the context of the time they were passed, and so that judge-made presumptions can resolve ambiguity but cannot override clear statutory language.

This is the correct way to respond to judicial over-reach – not attacking judges, but by proving a statutory guide to interpretation.

ACT will stop governments writing vague Treaty clauses into law and leaving courts and officials to decide what they mean.

The more certain the law is, the better it is for everyone (except lawyers!).