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2023 N.Z. L. Rev. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/newzlndlr2023 and id is 1 raw text is: 1 How Can Entrenchment and Democracy be Reconciled in the New Zealand Constitution? BV HARRIS* The New Zealand Supreme Court has left open the question of whether Parliament can impose legally effective entrenchment on the country's law-making process. The question, even though recognising the law 's current ambivalence, can confidently be answered in favour ofa New Zealand Parliament having such a future power to impose legally effective manner and form restrictions. Such a position can be persuasively arrived at after considering: the requirements of democracy; the objectives of entrenchment; the experience of the Westminster and New Zealand legislatures; the views of the United Kingdom and New Zealand courts; and the views of commentators. It is suggested that the entrenchment imposed will vary according to what is required to evidence sufficiently the will of the people in each different law-making context. With appropriate statutory amendment, Parliament is likely in the future to be accepted as capable of being defined differently for different purposes. I Introduction The New Zealand Supreme Court in Ngaronoa v Attorney-General held that the appeal before it did not require the court to decide whether legally effective entrenchment can be put in place under the country's present *Professor Emeritus of Law, The University of Auckland. Thank you to the anonymous reviewers for their comments in respect of earlier versions of this article.