Abstract:
This article considers critically the design of the office of President of Ireland, as provided in the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann), and the design of the office of Governor-General of New Zealand, as provided in the Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General 1983 (as amended), 1 with a view to advancing suggestions inspired by the Irish design for the improvement of the design of the current office of Governor-General. The Irish experience also provides pointers as to a possible design for the office of head of state should New Zealand move from being a constitutional monarchy to a democratic republic. The Irish design is being looked to because Ireland: is a modern western democracy with a population similar to that of New Zealand; 2 like New Zealand, was formerly a constitutional monarchy with dominion status; and has a system of government which is based on that at Westminster. Also, although it has been criticized, 3 the Irish presidential design model has worked effectively as part of a stable system of government since 1937. 4 For reasons of convenience in this article the new head of state in a possible New Zealand republic will also be called the "President". The article is not written to advocate that New Zealand should become a republic. However, if New Zealand were at the point of seriously contemplating changing to a republic, those responsible for recommending the design of the office of head of state may want to ...
