What Role Does The Constitutional Convention Play In Restraining The Executive

Though constitutional conventions have an important role in restraining the executive they have no enforceability in court. Therefore as soon as one stops following them they cease to exist. Statutes, however, are enforceable and hold some of the most important rules in restraining our executive. These are vital if broken and consequences are enforced. In this essay I will be looking at the importance of both statutes and constitutional conventions in our legal system and the importance that they both play in restraining the executive. I will be looking at how constitutions restrain the executive by the concept of individual ministerial responsibility, the role the governor general has in our legal system and the idea of a caretaker government.
The old party is still in power but cannot make any major decisions and should begin to implement the winning party’s policy.
This is important in restraining the executive because it means that the executive cannot force through any laws that may change their position of power to any sort of negative effect on New Zealand. In 1984 Muldoon breached this convention after losing the election and a caretaker government was to be put in place. The winning party wanted to devalue the currency. Muldoon issued a statement claiming to do the exact opposite which sent New Zealand into a ‘constitutional crisis’. This later resulted in an investigation into our constitution and thus created Constitution Act
It removes any inconsistency as it is not open to interpretation by legislature as case law is. Statute is made through parliament, which means that the public are usually able to have an input. It applies to everyone, meaning everyone is required to follow it and to breach the law will result in consequence.Statues are vital in restraining the executive. Examples of this are The MMP electoral Act 1993. This allows all New Zealand residents over the age of eighteen to vote, which means if the public felt that the government was wielding dictatorial type power they could vote them out. It also means that it is very unlikely for one government to get majority in parliament. This is important, as for a bill to pass the majority of parliament must vote for it. In order to get majority in parliament the elected governments must form coalition with smaller parties, this involves compromise and therefore it is very unlikely that many radical bills will be passed as part of one’s policy as this will scare off potential coalition parties. Another statute that is essential in restraining the executive is the Official Information Act 1982. This act means that any government held information should be available to the public, though there are reasons why some information may be withheld from the public; the accessibility of