17 What is an Act?
Tracey Thomas and Theresa Buller
Acts are laws formally passed or enacted by Parliament that have received royal assent by the Governor-General as the Sovereign’s representative.
Acts are one of the primary sources of New Zealand’s law and have greater authority than case law. Sometimes Acts are referred to as statutes or enactments.
Acts made by Parliament are supreme law in New Zealand. A court cannot overturn an Act made by Parliament.
Each new Act either creates new laws or makes changes to existing Acts by amending, replacing or repealing existing legislation. Most legislation enacted each year amends existing legislation.
Although all Acts are the law of New Zealand, there are different types of Acts, which include:
- Public Acts – Acts that affects the public at large, eg New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990;
- Local Acts – Acts that deals with a matter of public interest but only affect a particular part of New Zealand, eg Auckland Domain Act 1987;
- Private Acts – Acts that deals with the particular interest or benefit of an identified person or body, eg Eden Park Trust Act 1955;
- Imperial Acts in force in New Zealand – Acts of the Parliaments of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom that are part of the law of New Zealand under the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988, eg Magna Carta 1297;
- Provincial Acts (or Provincial Ordinances) in force in New Zealand – Acts that date back to the time when New Zealand was a colony divided into provinces. Each province had the jurisdiction to pass legislation that only applied within that province, eg Christ’s College Ordinance 1855 (C) – the (C) represents the Province of Canterbury.
