Republicanism in New Zealand - Constitutional Issues

Constitutional Issues

New Zealand is a unitary state and does not have a codified, entrenched constitution. Some have argued New Zealand is a "de facto" republic. New Zealand has made constitutional changes without difficulty in the past, such as the abolition of its upper house of parliament in 1951, the introduction of proportional representation in 1996 and most recently the creation of the Supreme Court of New Zealand as the court of final appeal. Legal academics have espoused the view that the legal changes required for a republic are not complex. Some have argued that the changes required are less radical than the move to MMP in 1996.