New Zealand Treaty Practice: The Executive and the Legislature

TLDR: In this article, the role of the executive and the legislature in making and implementing international treaties in New Zealand is discussed, and various methods of giving legislative effect to international treaties, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Abstract: This article is primarily concerned with the role played by the executive and the legislature in making and implementing international treaties in New Zealand. Kenneth Keith considers various issues relevant to this topic, starting with the process for signing treaties and entering into agreements. He outlines several exceptions to the general rule that the executive has unlimited power to enter into treaties, discussing the role of the legislature in treaty making and the constitutional convention that Parliament has the right to debate the question of acceptance of important treaties. This leads to a consideration of which treaties are deemed “important” and who decides this. In the final part of the article, the author considers the various methods of giving legislative effect to international treaties, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each.Abstract by Juliet Bull.