New Zealand
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- Parliamentary democracy - constitutional monarchy of the Commonwealth
- CONSTITUTION
- consists of a series of legal documents, including acts of the United Kingdom and the New Zealand Parliament and the Constitution Act of 1986, which is the first formal charter. Effective from January 1, 1987
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English law, with some special territorial laws and territorial courts for the Maori
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, House of Representatives
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; High Court;
RELIGIONS
14.9% Anglicans, 12.4% Catholics; 10.9% Presbyterians; other Christians
From the country
- DECEMBER 21, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
Terrorism expert Paul Buchanan said that International...
Terrorism expert Paul Buchanan said that International criminals will consider taking refuge in New Zealand because of a law that prevents the deportation of anyone who faces the death penalty in their home country, according to an editorial in The Austra
- NOVEMBER 4, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Helen Clark disagrees with the decision...
Prime Minister Helen Clark disagrees with the decision by Miss New Zealand, Rachel Huljich, to attend the Miss World contest in Nigeria
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International says Miss New Zealand's got it...
Amnesty International says Miss New Zealand's got it wrong on their position about a boycott of Miss World
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
New Zealand's Miss World contestant, Rachel Huljich,...
New Zealand's Miss World contestant, Rachel Huljich, said she will go to the beauty pageant in Nigeria because she believes a boycott will not help a woman who faces a death sentence
- OCTOBER 17, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand Parliament unanimously passed a motion...
The New Zealand Parliament unanimously passed a motion condemning the sentencing of a Nigerian woman to death by stoning for having sex outside marriage
- OCTOBER 1, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
New Zealand lawmakers of all parties wrote to Nigeria's...
New Zealand lawmakers of all parties wrote to Nigeria's president urging him to overturn the sentence of death by stoning imposed on a woman for having a child out of wedlock
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions joined Prime...
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions joined Prime Minister Helen Clark, Green MP Sue Kedgley and the YWCA in voicing concerns about New Zealand's involvement in the Miss World pageant despite reassurances from the Nigerian Government that the decision
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
New Zealand Green Party MP Sue Kedgley added her voice...
New Zealand Green Party MP Sue Kedgley added her voice to a call for Miss New Zealand organisers to boycott the Miss World pageant in Nigeria over a woman being sentenced to death by stoning
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
It is not a "good look" for Miss New Zealand to attend...
It is not a "good look" for Miss New Zealand to attend the Miss World pageant in Nigeria while a woman there faces death by stoning, Prime Minister Helen Clark said
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand YWCA [Young Women's Christian Association]...
The New Zealand YWCA [Young Women's Christian Association] called for 17-year-old Miss New Zealand Rachel Heujich to join five other countries in boycotting the Miss World pageant in Nigeria because a woman was sentenced to death by stoning there in Augus
- AUGUST 21, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand National Party called on the Government...
The New Zealand National Party called on the Government to cut $50,000 foreign aid to Nigeria, after the death sentence was handed out to Amina Lawal Kurami for having a child outside marriage
- JULY 19, 2002New ZealandDEATH PENALTY
A return to capital punishment is "certainly not" Alliance...
A return to capital punishment is "certainly not" Alliance [a coalition of the New Labour Party, Democratic Party, New Zealand Liberal Party, and Mana Motuhake] policy, despite it being advocated by West Coast-Tasman election candidate Dick Hitchens, a pa