Attorney-General (New Zealand): Difference between revisions

Attorney-General of New Zealand
Attorney-General of New Zealand
	Coat of arms of New Zealand
	Flag of New Zealand
	Incumbent; Chris Finlayson; since 19 November 2008
	Crown Law Office Parliamentary Counsel Office
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Cabinet of New Zealand; Executive Council;
Reports to	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Formation	7 May 1856
First holder	Frederick Whitaker
Salary	$288,900
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz

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Revision as of 15:11, 11 July 2017

The Attorney-General is a political and legal officer in New Zealand. The Attorney-General is simultaneously a ministerial position and the chief law officer of the Crown, and has responsibility for supervising New Zealand law and advising the government on legal matters. The current Attorney-General is Chris Finlayson.

Responsibilities and powers

The Attorney-General has two main areas of official responsibility. Firstly, the Attorney-General has ministerial jurisdiction over the Crown Law Office, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and the Serious Fraud Office. Secondly, the Attorney-General is the principal law officer of the Crown, responsible for supervising the state's administration of the law and for providing legal advice to the government. In the latter role (but strictly not in the former), the Attorney-General is assisted by the Solicitor-General, a non-partisan official. This is to reduce the extent to which the Attorney-General's actions on behalf of the state (as opposed to the government) can be influenced by their political allegiance.

A more complete description of the Attorney-General's powers can be found in the 2004 ministerial briefing prepared by the Crown Law Office, which the Attorney-General supervises.

The position of Attorney-General is distinct from that of Minister of Justice, although the two posts are sometimes held by the same person, e.g. Martyn Finlay 1972–1975.

At present, there is no statutory basis which establishes the office of Attorney-General, although the position is referenced by a number of other legal documents, such as the Constitution Act 1986.

The Attorney-General usually has a legal background; the recent exception below being Michael Cullen. In November 1906 when Albert Pitt died, there were no suitable members of the legal profession in Parliament.^[2] Hence Joseph Ward appointed John Findlay to the Legislative Council on 23 November 1906,^[3] and appointed him Attorney-General and Colonial Secretary on the same day.^[4]

History

The post of Attorney-General has existed since the separation of New Zealand as a distinct Crown Colony from New South Wales. Because of the dual nature of the role, however, it has sometimes been filled by politicians and sometimes by jurists — not all Attorneys-General have been cabinet ministers.

The table below is an incomplete listing of New Zealand politicians who have sat in Cabinet as Attorney-General since 1856. It does not show non-political attorneys-general. There were two previous Attorneys-General before responsible government was introduced in New Zealand in 1856: Francis Fisher who held office for less than one year in 1841, and William Swainson who held office until 7 May 1856. It is also interesting to note that Peter Wilkinson was the half-brother of his successor, Jim McLay.

	Name	Premier / Prime Minister Served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Frederick Whitaker	Sewell	7 May 1856	20 May 1856	None
2	William Fox	(himself)	20 May 1856	2 June 1856	None
	Frederick Whitaker, 2nd time	Stafford	2 June 1856	12 July 1861	None
	William Fox, 2nd time	(himself)	12 July 1861	2 August 1861	None
3	Henry Sewell	William Fox	2 August 1861	6 August 1862	None
4	Thomas Gillies	Domett	6 August 1862	23 August 1862	None
	Henry Sewell, 2nd time	Domett	23 August 1862	1 January 1863	None
	Frederick Whitaker, 3rd time	Domett, (himself)	1 January 1863	24 November 1864	None
	Henry Sewell, 3rd time	Weld	24 November 1864	16 October 1865	None
5	James Prendergast	Edward Stafford	16 October 1865	1 September 1876	None
	Frederick Whitaker, 4th time	Atkinson	1 September 1876	13 October 1877	None
6	Robert Stout	Grey	13 March 1878	25 June 1879	None
	Frederick Whitaker, 5th time	(himself)	21 April 1882	25 September 1883	None
7	Edward Connolly	Atkinson, Harry	25 September 1883	16 August 1884	None
	Robert Stout, 2nd time	(himself)	16 August 1884	28 August 1884	None
	Robert Stout, 3rd time	(himself)	3 September 1884	8 October 1887	None
	Frederick Whitaker, 6th time	Atkinson	11 October 1887	24 January 1891	None
8	Patrick Buckley	Ballance, Seddon	24 January 1891	20 December 1895	Liberal
9	Albert Pitt	Seddon, Hall-Jones, Ward	22 June 1903	18 November 1906	Liberal
10	John Findlay	Ward	23 November 1906	26 December 1911	Liberal
11	Alexander Herdman	Massey	10 July 1912	4 February 1918	Reform
12	Francis Bell	Massey, (himself), Coates	4 February 1918	18 January 1926	Reform
13	William Downie Stewart, Jr.	Coates	18 January 1926	24 May 1926	Reform
14	Frank Rolleston	Coates	24 May 1926	26 November 1928	Reform
15	Thomas Sidey	Ward, Forbes	10 December 1928	22 September 1931	United
	William Downie Stewart, Jr., 2nd time	Forbes	22 September 1931	28 January 1933	Reform
16	George Forbes	(himself)	28 January 1933	6 December 1935	United
17	Rex Mason	Savage, Fraser	6 December 1935	13 December 1949	Labour
18	Clifton Webb	Holland	13 December 1949	26 November 1954	National
19	Jack Marshall	Holland, Holyoake	26 November 1954	12 December 1957	National
	Rex Mason, 2nd time	Nash	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Labour
20	Ralph Hanan	Holyoake	12 December 1960	24 July 1969	National
	Jack Marshall, 2nd time	Holyoake	22 December 1969	2 February 1971	National
21	Dan Riddiford	Holyoake	2 February 1971	9 February 1972	None
	Roy Jack	Marshall	9 February 1972	8 December 1972	National
22	Martyn Finlay	Kirk, Rowling	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Labour
23	Peter Wilkinson	Muldoon	12 December 1975	13 December 1978	National
24	Jim McLay	Muldoon	13 December 1978	26 July 1984	National
25	Geoffrey Palmer	Lange	26 July 1984	4 August 1989	Labour
26	David Lange	Palmer, Moore	4 August 1989	2 November 1990	Labour
27	Paul East	Bolger	2 November 1990	5 December? 1997	National
28	Doug Graham	Bolger, Shipley	5 December? 1997	5 December 1999	National
29	Margaret Wilson	Clark	5 December 1999	28 February 2005	Labour
30	Michael Cullen	Clark	28 February 2005	19 October 2005	Labour
31	David Parker	Clark	19 October 2005	20 March 2006	Labour
	Michael Cullen, 2nd time	Clark	21 March 2006	19 November 2008	Labour
32	Chris Finlayson	Key, English	19 November 2008	Incumbent	National

External links

Ministerial Briefing describing the role of the Attorney-General

References

^ https://www.parliament.nz/media/3151/parliamentary-salaries-and-allowances-determination-2016.pdf
^ Paterson, Donald Edgar (1966), "Findlay, the Hon. Sir John George", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, retrieved 10 May 2008
^ Wilson 1985, p. 153.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 74.

[1] ttps://www.parliament.nz/media/3151/parliamentary-salaries-and-allowances-determination-2016.pdf

[2] Paterson, Donald Edgar (1966), "Findlay, the Hon. Sir John George", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, retrieved 10 May 2008

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985153-3] Wilson 1985, p. 153.

[FOOTNOTEWilson198574-4] Wilson 1985, p. 74.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 The Attorney-General has two main areas of official responsibility. Firstly, the Attorney-General has ministerial jurisdiction over the [[Crown Law Office (New Zealand)|Crown Law Office]], the [[Parliamentary Counsel Office (New Zealand)|Parliamentary Counsel Office]], and the [[Serious Fraud Office (New Zealand)|Serious Fraud Office]]. Secondly, the Attorney-General is the principal law officer of the Crown, responsible for supervising the state's administration of the law and for providing legal advice to the government. In the latter role (but strictly not in the former), the Attorney-General is assisted by the [[Solicitor-General of New Zealand|Solicitor-General]], a non-partisan official. This is to reduce the extent to which the Attorney-General's actions on behalf of the state (as opposed to the government) can be influenced by their political allegiance.
-A more complete description of the Attorney-General's powers can be found in the [http://www.beehive.govt.nz/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm 2004 ministerial briefing] prepared by the Crown Law Office, which the Attorney-General supervises.
+A more complete description of the Attorney-General's powers can be found in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20040525035734/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm 2004 ministerial briefing] prepared by the Crown Law Office, which the Attorney-General supervises.
 The position of Attorney-General is distinct from that of [[Minister of Justice (New Zealand)|Minister of Justice]], although the two posts are sometimes held by the same person, e.g. [[Martyn Finlay]] 1972–1975.
@@ Line 406: / Line 406: @@
 ==External links==
-*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040525035734/http://www.beehive.govt.nz:80/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm Ministerial Briefing describing the role of the Attorney-General]
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040525035734/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm Ministerial Briefing describing the role of the Attorney-General]
 ==References==