Towards Democratic Renewal

Local Description

Contents: 1 Why a constitution is important 2 Our constitutional vision 3 What the public told us 4 A Constitution based on principle 5 The State and a New Zealand republic 6 The Government 7 Local government 8 The Parliament 9 Why New Zealand does not need an upper house 10 The Judiciary 11 Integrity and transparency 12 Bill of Rights 13 The Treaty of Waitangi and the constitution 14 More people need to know how government works 15 Elections are not enough 16 Deepening citizen engagement 17 The media, information and communication 18 How to build a new constitution 19 Constitution Aotearoa in English and te reo Maori

Author Biography: Dr Andrew Butler is a litigator for Russell McVeagh in Wellington. He has extensive experience at trial and appellate level, in both public and commercial law, much of it high profile. He has been an academic lawyer at the Victoria University of Wellington and a member of the Crown Law Office. He has appeared frequently in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and is a leading authority in public law, human rights protection, judicial review and trusts and equity. He has also published on a range of commercial and public law issues. Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC was a law professor before entering New Zealand politics as the MP for Christchurch Central in 1979. In Parliament he held the offices of Attorney-General, Minister of Justice, Leader of the House, Minister for the Environment, Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister. Since leaving politics in 1990 he has been a law professor, a foundation partner of a law firm, President of the Law Commission, chair of the Legislation Advisory Committee, New Zealand's Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, and chair of the Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident for the United Nations in New York. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Faculty of Law Victoria University of Wellington and a Global Affiliated Professor of Law at the University of Iowa.

Description

Towards Democratic Renewal reinforces Palmer and Butler's argument for a robust and democratic framework that will safeguard our political system against future challenges, from climate change to earthquakes, `post-truth' politics and surveillance.