Monarchy in New Zealand - Representation of The State

Representation of The State

As the living embodiment of the Crown, the sovereign is regarded as the personification, or legal personality, of the New Zealand state, with the state therefore referred to as Her Majesty The Queen in Right of New Zealand, or The Crown. As such, the monarch is the employer of all government staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the New Zealand Defence Force, police officers, and parliamentarians), as well as the owner of all state lands (Crown land), buildings and equipment (Crown held property), state owned companies (Crown entities), and the copyright for all government publications (Crown copyright). This is all in his or her position as sovereign, and not as an individual; all such property is held by the Crown in perpetuity and cannot be sold by the sovereign without the proper advice and consent of his or her ministers.

As the embodiment of the state, the monarch is the locus of oaths of allegiance, required of many employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens, as per the Oath of Citizenship laid out in the Citizenship Act. This is done in reciprocation to the sovereign's Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises "to govern the Peoples of... New Zealand... according to their respective laws and customs."

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