Strengthening the Bill of Rights

Abstract

This article was presented as a Victoria University of Wellington Centennial Lecture during Law Festival week in 1999.  The author critically examines two aspects of the current operational structure of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990—the subordination of the Bill of Rights to all enactments (section 4) and the issue of "positive vets" of proposed legislation by the Attorney-General (section 7). The author identifies them as weaknesses, and makes suggestions as to possible improvements.