Amendments
The first amendment to the Act was made by the British Parliament during 1857. This amendment granted the New Zealand General Assembly the ability to amend or repeal all of the provisions of the Constitution Act except provisions such as the establishment of the General Assembly itself and the extent of its legislative powers.
The New Zealand Parliament did not gain total ability to amend the Act until 1947, when New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931 with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947. The only remaining provision relating to the Parliament of the United Kingdom was the ability of the former imperial legislature to legislate for New Zealand at the New Zealand Parliament's consent. This occurred only once, for the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947 which adopted the New Zealand Parliament's New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947.
A number of important amendments were made to the Act by the New Zealand Parliament:
- Abolition of the Provinces Act 1876: abolished the Provinces of New Zealand;
- Legislative Council Abolition Act 1950: repealed the sections relating to the Legislative Council so that New Zealand became a unicameral (one-house) legislature
- New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1973: gave the New Zealand Parliament the power to pass laws of extraterritorial effect.
Read more about this topic: New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
Famous quotes containing the word amendments:
“Both of us felt more anxiety about the South—about the colored people especially—than about anything else sinister in the result. My hope of a sound currency will somehow be realized; civil service reform will be delayed; but the great injury is in the South. There the Amendments will be nullified, disorder will continue, prosperity to both whites and colored people will be pushed off for years.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)