Attorney-General of New Zealand
Te Rōia Matua o Aotearoa (Māori)
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
Incumbent
Judith Collins
since 27 November 2023
Crown Law Office
Parliamentary Counsel Office
Serious Fraud Office
StyleThe Honourable
Member of
Reports toPrime Minister of New Zealand
SeatWellington
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerGovernor-General of New Zealand
on the advice of the prime minister
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formation7 May 1856
First holderFrederick Whitaker
Salary$288,900[1]
Websitewww.beehive.govt.nz

The Attorney-General (Māori: Rōia Matua)[2] 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 Attorney-General serves both a political and apolitical function.[3] The current Attorney-General is Judith Collins.

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.[4] 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.[4] This includes upholding the rule of law[5] and advising on compliance with domestic and international obligations.[6] In the latter role (but strictly not in the former), the Attorney-General is assisted by the Solicitor-General, a non-partisan official.[4] 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.[7]

A more complete description of the Attorney-General's powers can be found in the briefings to the incoming Attorney-General prepared by the Crown Law Office (most recently in 2020).

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 which allows the Solicitor-General to exercise the functions of the Attorney-General.[8] The functions of the Attorney-General are also described in the Cabinet Manual.[9]

There is no constitutional duty on the government to follow the advice of the law officers.[10] The Cabinet Manual outlines the process by which the legal advice provided by the Attorney-General (and others) may be disclosed.[11]

The Attorney-General is also responsible for advising the Governor-General on who should be appointed judges of the courts of New Zealand.[12]

History

The post of Attorney-General has existed since the separation of New Zealand as a distinct Crown Colony from New South Wales. It is a distinct position from that of Minister of Justice, although the two posts are sometimes held by the same person, for example, Martyn Finlay who held both positions from 1972 to 1975.

Historically, the post could be held either by a politician or by a senior jurist, but today, it is invariably held by a member of Parliament. The Attorney-General is a member of the Executive Council and is usually appointed as a member of the Cabinet. (An exception is when David Lange was appointed Attorney-General outside Cabinet from 1989 to 1990.)

By tradition, persons appointed to the position of Attorney-General have been lawyers. Only two former Attorneys-General have not been lawyers, most recently Dr. Michael Cullen who held the post in 2005 and again from 2006 to 2008. In November 1906, when Albert Pitt died, there were no suitable members of the legal profession in Parliament.[13] Hence Joseph Ward appointed John Findlay to the Legislative Council on 23 November 1906[14]: 153  and appointed him Attorney-General and Colonial Secretary on the same day.[14]: 74 

The table below is an incomplete listing of New Zealand politicians who have held political appointment 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. Peter Wilkinson was the half-brother of his successor, Jim McLay.

List of attorneys-general

Key

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National

No. Name Portrait Term of office Prime Minister
1 Frederick Whitaker 7 May 1856 20 May 1856 Sewell
2 William Fox 20 May 1856 2 June 1856 Fox
(1) Frederick Whitaker 2 June 1856 12 July 1861 Stafford
(2) William Fox 12 July 1861 2 August 1861 Fox
3 Henry Sewell 2 August 1861 6 August 1862
4 Thomas Gillies 6 August 1862 23 August 1862 Domett
(3) Henry Sewell 23 August 1862 1 January 1863
(1) Frederick Whitaker 1 January 1863 24 November 1864
Whitaker
(3) Henry Sewell 24 November 1864 16 October 1865 Weld
5 James Prendergast 16 October 1865 1 September 1876 Stafford
(1) Frederick Whitaker 1 September 1876 13 October 1877 Atkinson
6 Robert Stout 13 October 1877 8 October 1879 Grey
(1) Frederick Whitaker 21 April 1882 25 September 1883 Whitaker
7 Edward Conolly 25 September 1883 16 August 1884 Atkinson
(6) Robert Stout 16 August 1884 8 October 1887 Stout
(1) Frederick Whitaker 11 October 1887 24 January 1891 Atkinson
8 Patrick Buckley 24 January 1891 20 December 1895 Ballance
Seddon
9 Albert Pitt 22 June 1903 18 November 1906
Hall-Jones
Ward
10 John Findlay 18 November 1906 26 December 1911
- Josiah Hanan
acting		 28 March 1912 10 July 1912 Mackenzie
11 Alexander Herdman 10 July 1912 4 February 1918 Massey
12 Francis Bell 4 February 1918 18 January 1926
Bell
Coates
13 William Downie Stewart Jr 18 January 1926 24 May 1926
14 Frank Rolleston 24 May 1926 10 December 1928
15 Thomas Sidey 10 December 1928 22 September 1931 Ward
Forbes
(13) William Downie Stewart Jr 22 September 1931 28 January 1933
16 George Forbes 28 January 1933 6 December 1935
17 Rex Mason 6 December 1935 13 December 1949 Savage
Fraser
18 Clifton Webb 13 December 1949 26 November 1954 Holland
19 Jack Marshall 26 November 1954 12 December 1957
Holyoake
(17) Rex Mason 12 December 1957 12 December 1960 Nash
20 Ralph Hanan 12 December 1960 22 December 1969 Holyoake
(19) Jack Marshall 22 December 1969 2 February 1971
21 Dan Riddiford 2 February 1971 9 February 1972
22 Roy Jack 9 February 1972 8 December 1972 Marshall
23 Martyn Finlay 8 December 1972 12 December 1975 Kirk
Rowling
24 Peter Wilkinson 12 December 1975 13 December 1978 Muldoon
25 Jim McLay 13 December 1978 26 July 1984
26 Geoffrey Palmer 26 July 1984 4 August 1989 Lange
27 David Lange 4 August 1989 2 November 1990 Palmer
Moore
28 Paul East 2 November 1990 5 December 1997 Bolger
29 Doug Graham 5 December 1997 10 December 1999
Shipley
30 Margaret Wilson 10 December 1999 28 February 2005 Clark
31 Michael Cullen 28 February 2005 19 October 2005
32 David Parker 19 October 2005 21 March 2006
(31) Michael Cullen 21 March 2006 19 November 2008
33 Chris Finlayson 19 November 2008 26 October 2017 Key
English
(32) David Parker 26 October 2017 27 November 2023 Ardern
Hipkins
34 Judith Collins 27 November 2023 Incumbent Luxon

References

  1. ↑ https://www.parliament.nz/media/3151/parliamentary-salaries-and-allowances-determination-2016.pdf
  2. ↑ "Rōia Matua - te Aka Māori Dictionary".
  3. ↑ Clayton, CW (1995). Government Lawyers: The Federal Legal Bureaucracy and Presidential Politics. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press. p. 13.
  4. 1 2 3 Briefing Paper for the Attorney-General (Crown Law Office, October 2017) at 3.
  5. ↑ Cabinet Office, Cabinet Manual 2017, at [4.3].
  6. ↑ "CO (16) 2: Cabinet Directions for the Conduct of Crown Legal Business 2016". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  7. ↑ Brookfield (1979). "The Attorney-General". New Zealand Law Journal: 336.
  8. ↑ Constitution Act 1986, s 9A.
  9. ↑ Cabinet Office, Cabinet Manual 2017, [4.2]–[4.5].
  10. ↑ McLachlan, Campbell (2014). Foreign Relations Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. [4.35].
  11. ↑ Cabinet Office, Cabinet Manual 2017, at [4.63–4.72].
  12. ↑ "Judicial appointments | The District Court of New Zealand". www.districtcourts.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Paterson, Donald Edgar (1966), "Findlay, the Hon. Sir John George", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, retrieved 10 May 2008
  14. 1 2 Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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