Judiciary

The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, the High Court, the District Courts, and other courts and tribunals. Some Judges may sit on more than one.

New Zealand law has three principal sources - English common law, certain statutes of the United Kingdom Parliament enacted before 1947 (notably the Bill of Rights 1689), and statutes of the New Zealand Parliament. In interpreting common law, the courts have endeavoured to preserve uniformity with common law as interpreted in the United Kingdom and related jurisdictions. The maintenance of the Privy Council in London as the final court of appeal and judges’ practice of following British decisions, even though, technically, they are not bound by them, both bolstered this uniformity. However, in October 2003, the House of Representatives passed legislation to end this right of appeal from 2004, and to establish the Supreme Court of New Zealand in Wellington, which began hearings in July 2004.

Local government

New Zealand is a unitary state rather than a federation - regions are created by the authority of the central government, rather than the central government being created by the authority of the regions. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by Parliament. These powers have traditionally been distinctly fewer than in some other countries. For example, police and education are run by central government, while the provision of low-cost housing is optional for local councils. Many of them used to control ports and gas and electricity supply, but nearly all of that was privatised in the late 20th century.

New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions. These form the highest level of local government. New Zealand is also divided into seventy-four territorial authorities. Some of these are called Cities, while most are Districts. Most territorial authorities are wholly within one region, but there are a few that cross regional boundaries. There are also four instances in which regional and territorial authorities are combined into a single unitary authority, and the isolated Chatham Islands have a body with its own special legislation, making it very like a unitary authority.

In each territorial authority there are commonly several community boards or area boards (see below). These form the lowest and weakest arm of local government.

Each of the regions and territorial authorities is governed by a council, which is directly elected by the residents of that region, district or city. Each council may use a system chosen by the outgoing council (after public consultation), either the First Past the Post electoral system or single transferable vote.