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                    [0] => The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) was New Zealand's law drafting office. It was responsible for drafting and publishing most New Zealand legislation.
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Archives New Zealand online finding aid 

http://www.archway.archives.govt.nz 



Briefing Notes for the Attorney-General on the Role and Operations of the 

Parliamentary Counsel Office, PCO, November 2008 

http://beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/PCO.pdf 



Burrows, Geoffrey, Professor 

Victoria University of Wellington 

Review of the Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920, 

(presentation) Parliamentary Counsel Office, 2009. 



Dictionary of New Zealand Biography 

http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/ 



Legislative Drafting Practice in New Zealand 

Statute Law Review 1991 12(1):16-30; doi:10.1093/slr/12.1.16 

© 1991 Oxford University Press 

Walter Iles, Q.C., Chief Parliamentary Counsel of New Zealand, 1991 



New Zealand History Online, Political and Constitutional Timeline 

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/milestones 



Review of the Statues Drafting and Compilation Act 1920 

Law Commission, Report 107, May 2009. 



State Services Commission 

List of State Services and wider State sector organisations 

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/display/document.asp?DocID=7007 



Parliamentary Counsel Office internet homepage/About the PCO 

http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/corporatefile/summary.shtml 



The Statutes of New Zealand, 1842 to present 



The Statutory Regulations of New Zealand, 1936 to present 
Transfer documentation (W5612)  from PCO
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            [history] => 
Prior to 1853 New Zealand was a colony governed by Britain. British laws affecting New Zealand were drafted as ordinances. British Colonial Office and Secretary of State for the Colonies were in charge of drafting legislation for the Governor of New Zealand. 



In January 1853, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (UK) came into effect. It created six Provincial Councils and a national General Assembly that consisted of a legislative council appointed by the Crown and a House of Representatives elected every five years. Legislation was drafted in the Office of Law Drafting (OLD). 



In 1873, the Judicial Branch split into the Department of Justice and the Crown Law Office (CLO). Draftsman was appointed in the Crown Law Office, or Law Officer held concurrent position as Law Draftsman. Until 1907, the CLO incorporated the Law Drafting Office (LDO), and much of the law drafting was done by either the Solicitor-General or by Law Officers under his control. 



The Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920 returned the Parliamentary Law Draftsman under the authority of the Attorney-General and created a new Office of Parliament, the Law Drafting Office (LDO), with the statutory duties of drafting and overseeing the publication of legislation. 



In 1947, New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster (passed by the British Parliament in 1931), which confirmed that our Parliament alone had the power to make laws for New Zealand. 



The Statutes Drafting and Compilation Amendment 1973 changed the name of the Law Drafting Office to the Parliamentary Counsel Office. The title ‘Law Draftsman’ became ‘Chief Parliamentary Counsel’, and ‘Assistant Law Draftsman’ became ‘Parliamentary Counsel’. 



The Chief Parliamentary Counsel (CPC) 

The CPC, as with most other heads of legislative drafting offices in Commonwealth jurisdictions, reported to the Attorney-General as the senior law officer. The PCO occasionally needed to refer matters of legal principle arising during the drafting process to the Attorney-General. Weekly meetings with the Leader of the House took place during the parliamentary session to assist in the programming of Government orders in the House. 



The Constitution Act 1986 ended residual British legislative powers, making New Zealand formally responsible (as it had been in practice for many years) for its own system of government. 



The PCO was responsible for:

    
drafting Government Bills and Statutory Regulations
    
supervising the printing of Government Bills, Acts, and Statutory Regulations
    
examining local Bills and private Bills
    
compiling reprints of statutes and Statutory Regulations
    
arranging the printing and publication of such reprints
    
maintaining the legislation database
    
providing the appropriate access to the database by stakeholders and the public of New Zealand.

A principal function of the PCO was to draft Bills, including amendments to Bills, during their passage through the House. Legislative drafting was a highly iterative process that generally involved substantial and continuous revision. With large and complex Bills, the drafting process could take months and numerous versions can be produced. 



Regulations drafting used about 40% of PCO’s drafting resources, even when Parliament was not sitting. The drafting of regulations required the authority of a Minister. Policy decisions underlying proposed regulations came from the relevant Cabinet committee and from Cabinet before drafting could proceed. However, routine regulations could be drafted on the instructions of the responsible Minister without the need to get Cabinet committee and Cabinet approval. 



The Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 made it the responsibility of the PCO not only to draft but also to publish and distribute:

    
Acts of Parliament
    
Statutory Regulations
    
reprints of Acts and Statutory Regulations (with amendments incorporated)
    
reprints of Imperial Acts that are part of the laws of New Zealand.

Public Access to Legislation (PAL) 

The PAL Project, designed to improve the way in which New Zealand legislation is made available to the public, was completed in January 2008. It involved the implementation of a new XML-based (Extensible Markup Language) drafting and publishing system within the PCO, and the provision of the New Zealand Legislation website. The new website provided free access to Acts, regulations, Bills, and Supplementary Order. PAL was now known as the Legislation Enactments of New Zealand (LENZ). It formed a core part of the PCO’s day-to-day business activity, being used for drafting, reprints, publishing, and distributing New Zealand legislation.


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