Waitangi and New Zealand's Constitution

It also means that there is a separation of powers between the three branches of government legislature, executive, and judiciary. The legislative branch (Parliament) is made up of members of Parliament who are elected in by New Zealander's every three years. The role of this branch is to consider, debate and decide whether proposed bills should be made into a formal law. Parliament also consists of the Governor-General who is the Queens's representative. In order for a law to be passed, the Governor-General must sign off on it. The legislative and executive branches are fused together because the executive is drawn from Parliament. The executive branch consists of the Prime Minister and the other government Ministers. It develops policies and drafts bills for the Legislature to review; they impose the law, and make official decisions about the governing of the country. Finally, the judiciary branch is made up of the courts and judges. Their role is to hear cases before the court and make a decision about whether to apply the law or not. This means that they have freedom as a collective group to interpret the legislation in anyway. .
             New Zealand's constitution also stresses that the Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as the founding document of the country's government. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on February 6th 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs. There are two versions of the Treaty, the original copy, which was written in English, and a Maori version, which was translated later from the English version. The two texts both state different agreements between the Crown and Maori causing much confusion about what version to adhere to. According to the international law principle of Contra Preferentum, when an agreement is formed between indigenous and colonizing people, the language to adhere to is that of the indigenous (Green Party, 2012). However, there are regular discussions about what version to follow.