Attorney-General (New Zealand)
The Attorney-General in New Zealand has the rank of minister and is the chief legal adviser to the New Zealand Government . He is almost always a member of the cabinet . In office since 2008 is the politician and lawyer David Parker .
tasks
The Attorney-General has two areas of responsibility:
As Minister he is responsible for the Crown Law Office , the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Serious Fraud Office .
He, on the other hand, as the Crown's chief legal officer, oversees the government's application of New Zealand law and advises the government on legal matters. In this role, the Attorney-General is assisted by the Solicitor-General , an impartial officer. This serves to reduce the possibility of the attorney-general's activities, which are perceived as impartial, being influenced by his own party affiliation. The Attorney-General exercises his function as the highest lawyer of the Crown on behalf of the state and is thus politically opposed to the current government of another party.
The office of Attorney-General is to be distinguished from that of the Minister of Justice , but occasionally the same person held both offices at the same time, according to Martyn Finlay 1972-1975. The Prime Minister of New Zealand has assumed this office several times in personal union.
There is currently no legal basis defining the existence of the office of Attorney-General . However, several references to such an office are made in the legislation, such as the Constitution Act 1986 .
The attorney-general is usually a lawyer.
history
The office has existed since the separation of New Zealand as a separate crown colony from Australian New South Wales . Because of the dual nature of the office, the office was sometimes held by politicians, sometimes by lawyers. Not every attorney general was cabinet minister.
The table includes New Zealand politicians who served as Attorney-General Cabinet Ministers since 1856 . It does not include office holders without ministerial posts (marked with gaps in the list). Before the introduction of Responsible Government in New Zealand in 1856, there were two other Attorneys-General : Francis Fisher , who held office for less than a year in 1841, and William Swainson , who held the office until May 7, 1856.
| No. | Surname | under Premier / Prime Minister | Taking office | End of office | Political party |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francis Fisher | no | 1841 | 1841 | independent | |
| William Swainson | no | 1841 | May 7, 1856 | independent | |
| 1 | Frederick Whitaker | Sewell | May 7, 1856 | May 20, 1856 | independent |
| 2 | William Fox | (Incumbent himself) | May 20, 1856 | June 2, 1856 | independent |
| Frederick Whitaker , 2nd term | Stafford | June 2, 1856 | July 12, 1861 | independent | |
| William Fox , 2nd term | (Incumbent himself) | July 12, 1861 | August 2, 1861 | independent | |
| 3 | Henry Sewell | William Fox | August 2, 1861 | August 6, 1862 | independent |
| 4th | Thomas Gillies | Domett | August 6, 1862 | August 23, 1862 | independent |
| Henry Sewell , 2nd term | Domett | August 23, 1862 | January 1, 1863 | independent | |
| Frederick Whitaker , 3rd term | Domett , (incumbent himself) | January 1, 1863 | November 24, 1864 | independent | |
| Henry Sewell , 3rd term | Weld | November 24, 1864 | October 16, 1865 | independent | |
| 5 | James Prendergast | Edward Stafford | October 16, 1865 | September 1, 1876 | independent |
| Frederick Whitaker , 4th term | Atkinson | September 1, 1876 | October 13, 1877 | independent | |
| 6th | Robert Stout | Gray | March 13, 1878 | June 25, 1879 | independent |
| Frederick Whitaker , 5th term | (Incumbent himself) | April 21, 1882 | September 25, 1883 | independent | |
| 7th | Edward Connolly | Atkinson, Harry | September 25, 1883 | August 16, 1884 | independent |
| Robert Stout , 2nd term | (Incumbent himself) | August 16, 1884 | August 28, 1884 | independent | |
| Robert Stout , 3rd term | (Incumbent himself) | September 3, 1884 | October 8, 1887 | independent | |
| Frederick Whitaker , 6th term | Atkinson | October 11, 1887 | January 24, 1891 | independent | |
| 8th | Patrick Buckley | Ballance , Seddon | January 24, 1891 | December 20, 1895 | Liberal |
| 9 | Albert Pitt | Seddon , Hall-Jones , Ward | June 22, 1903 | November 18, 1906 | Liberal |
| 10 | John Findlay | Ward | November 23, 1906 | December 26, 1911 | Liberal |
| 11 | Alexander Herdman | Massey | July 10, 1912 | February 4, 1918 | reform |
| 12 | Francis Bell | Massey , (incumbent himself), Coates | February 4, 1918 | January 18, 1926 | reform |
| 13 | William Downie Stewart, Jr. | Coates | January 18, 1926 | May 24, 1926 | reform |
| 14th | Frank Rolleston | Coates | May 24, 1926 | November 26, 1928 | reform |
| 15th | Thomas Sidey | Ward , Forbes | December 10, 1928 | September 22, 1931 | United |
| William Downie Stewart, Jr. , 2nd term | Forbes | September 22, 1931 | January 28, 1933 | reform | |
| 16 | George Forbes | (Incumbent himself) | January 28, 1933 | December 6, 1935 | United |
| 17th | Rex Mason | Savage , Fraser | December 6, 1935 | December 13, 1949 | Labor |
| 18th | Clifton Webb | Holland | December 13, 1949 | November 26, 1954 | National |
| 19th | Jack Marshall | Holland , Holyoake | November 26, 1954 | December 12, 1957 | National |
| Rex Mason , 2nd term | Nash | December 12, 1957 | December 12, 1960 | Labor | |
| 20th | Ralph Hanan | Holyoake | December 12, 1960 | July 24, 1969 | National |
| Jack Marshall , 2nd term | Holyoake | 22nd December 1969 | 2nd February 1971 | National | |
| 21st | Dan Riddiford | Holyoake | 2nd February 1971 | February 9, 1972 | independent |
| Roy Jack | Marshall | February 9, 1972 | December 8, 1972 | National | |
| 22nd | Martyn Finlay | Kirk , Rowling | December 8, 1972 | December 12th 1975 | Labor |
| 23 | Peter Wilkinson | Muldoon | December 12th 1975 | December 13, 1978 | National |
| 24 | Jim McLay | Muldoon | December 13, 1978 | July 26, 1984 | National |
| 25th | Geoffrey Palmer | Long | July 26, 1984 | 4th August 1989 | Labor |
| 26th | David Lange | Palmer , Moore | 4th August 1989 | November 2, 1990 | Labor |
| 27 | Paul East | Bolger | November 2, 1990 | December 5th? 1997 | National |
| 28 | Doug Graham | Bolger , Shipley | December 5th? 1997 | 5th December 1999 | National |
| 29 | Margaret Wilson | Clark | 5th December 1999 | February 28, 2005 | Labor |
| 30th | Michael Cullen | Clark | February 28, 2005 | October 19, 2005 | Labor |
| 31 | David Parker | Clark | October 19, 2005 | March 20, 2006 | Labor |
| Michael Cullen , 2nd term | Clark | March 21, 2006 | November 19, 2008 | Labor | |
| 32 | Christopher Finlayson | Key | November 19, 2008 | October 26, 2017 | National |
| 32 | David Parker | Jacinda Ardern | October 26, 2017 | Labor |
Individual evidence
- ^ Attorney-General . In: Cabinet Manual 2008 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet , accessed April 12, 2015 .
- ↑ David Parker . beehive - New Zealand Government , accessed April 1, 2018 .
- ^ A b Law Officers of the Crown . Crown Law Office , accessed April 1, 2018 .