关于总督职权的几点思考
Some thoughts on the role of the Governor-General
苏志强
【关键词】the reserve powers, the Governor-General
【全文】
Some thoughts on the role of the Governor-General
Zhiqiang Su
New Zealand is a “constitutional monarchy”, under which the Head of State is the monarch, and the Governor-General is the Sovereign’s representative in New Zealand.[1] Unlike the other parts of New Zealand government, the Governor-General does not play an obvious role in the political activities of New Zealand. So contrary to other facets of the constitution, little discussion has focused on the role of the Governor-General.
The introduction of MMP, however, has created a political and parliamentary environment in which there is a greater risk of difficulty occurring over the formation of governments, the dismissal of prime ministers and the early dissolution of Parliament. Prior to the first MMP election, the general view to emerge was that parliamentary parties could be relied upon to resolve such difficulties as might occur and that no situation was likely to arise in which the Governor-General would be required to exercise independent judgment.[2] Departing from the general view, a variety of political leaders and academic commentators suggested that MMP would require a more activist Governor-General.[3] One even argued that MMP would redistribute power in the New Zealand constitutional system and some power would be shifted to the Governor-General, so that a new flat power structure existing among the Governor-General, the Executive and the Parliament would emerge instead of the previous relationship of the parts of the constitution to one another.[4]
Six years have passed since the emergence of a hung parliament in late 1996. Although the general view has been confirmed by the following election events, it does not and will not diminish the opposite voice. In this essay, I will discuss the role of the Governor-General, particularly focusing on the operation of the reserve powers, to reconsider the present position of the Governor-General in New Zealand political realities.
The functions of the Governor-General
The Governor-General has three overlapping roles: the community, the ceremonial and the constitutional.[5]Of these roles, the Governor-General’s community role is by far the busiest one. Under the community function, the Governor-General provides non-partisan leadership in the community. The Governor-General is the patron of many charitable, service, sporting and cultural organizations. A Governor-General can, by giving support to organizations carrying out good works, accentuate the positive and provide recognition to individuals and causes in a way in which a more partisan political figure may find difficult; and by standing above and outside party politics, provide a point of unity for the nation.[6] As Dame Catherine Tizard pointed out, “the chief role of a New Zealand Governor-General is more and more the one of affirming things, certain ideas and ideals.”(Emphasis in original)[7]
The Governor-General’s ceremonial role includes such duties as the opening of new sessions of Parliament, holding honors investitures and so on. However, events such as the opening of Parliament have never played a major part in public life and New Zealand lacks any tradition of overt symbolism, pomp and ceremony, so the ceremonial role is not as conspicuous as the community one in New Zealand.
A much-discussed role is the Governor-General’s constitutional function. This flows from the position of the Governor-General as representative of the sovereign. Under the Constitution Act 1986 and Letters Patent Constituting the Office of the Governor-General of New Zealand (Hereinafter “the Letters Patent 1983”)[8], the Governor-General is entitled to exercise all royal powers in New Zealand. However, these powers can be exercised only on the advice of ministers by constitutional convention and democratic principle, apart from very limited exceptions known as the “reserve powers”. In everyday speech, to offer advice to someone is to offer an opinion or make a suggestion as to how that person should act and the person to whom the advice is given is quite free to accept or to reject it. However, the term “advice” used in connection with constitutional monarchy has a quite different meaning. When ministers offer advice to the Governor-General, that advice is binding and the Governor-General has normally no option but to accept it.
