Subordinate legislation in New Zealand: Issues, ASIP, and opportunity

Abstract

In 2015 the Parliamentary Counsel Office commenced the Access to Subordinate Instruments Project (ASIP) which aims to improve access to subordinate legislation in New Zealand. Chief among steps to improve access is the proposal to gather together all subordinate instruments onto the New Zealand Legislation website to form a complete collection of legislation. This paper considers some of the existing problems and issues with subordinate legislation in New Zealand, and the potential impact of the changes proposed as part of ASIP. It is suggested that the establishment of a complete statute book on the New Zealand Legislation website could be a pivotal step in the development of the legislative system as it provides an opportunity for consideration of the organsational structure of the system and perhaps the first steps towards development of a code.