How are laws made?
Can I have a say in any of the bills?
What is an Act?
How are laws made?
There is a long process for making new laws. They begin as a bill, which is a draft of a proposed new law. Bills can be put to the House of Representatives by any MP whether or not the MP is a member of the Government. Parliament takes the bill, considers and debates it, then decides through several stages of voting whether the bill should become law. If the bill passes through all these stages, it becomes a new law – also called an Act of Parliament.
You can see more detailed information about the legislative process on the
Parliamentary website.
Can I have a say in any of the bills?
If the bill passes a first reading in Parliament, it will usually be referred to a select committee for up to six months. The select committee will usually ‘call for submissions’ from the public during this process. This means you can have your say about what should be included or excluded from the new bill.
Normally, submissions are sent in written form, but you can also ask to talk to the select committee in person. You can go online and find out about making a
submission for a particular bill. There’s a
guide to writing submissions available that can help you with your submission.
What is an Act?
Acts are laws made by Parliament. Acts are also sometimes called legislation or statutes, and can be found online at the
Legislation website and at your local library.
There are two main types of Acts
- Public Acts: apply to all of New Zealand
- Local Acts: affect specific areas of New Zealand.