Making Constitutions, From the Perspective of a Constitutional Adviser

This article summarises the author's experience of creating constitutions for the State of Niue, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Fiji. She sets out eight general issues of discussion. First, when do countries make a new constitution? Secondly, how do constitutions act as the rules of the political game? Thirdly, how can a country make a constitution? Fourthly, how does the method of constitution-making affect the tasks of the constitutional adviser? Fifthly, should the public be involved in constitution-making, and how? Sixthly, what goes into a constitution? Seventhly, is the Westminster constitution a satisfactory export model? Finally, what are the responsibilities of a constitutional adviser? The author discusses all issues by providing her experiences in the above nations, setting the scene for a discussion of constitution-making in New Zealand.&nbsp

The New Zealand Model of Free Association: What does it Mean for New Zealand

Using Professor Angelo's work in Tokelau as a starting point, Alison Quentin-Baxter examines the model of "free association" relationship that New Zealand has with the Cook Islands and with Niue, and was also to be the basis of Tokelauan self-government. She looks at both the legal and practical obligations that such relationships place on both parties, but particularly on New Zealand.  The form of the model means the basis for New Zealand's obligations to an associated state are quite different from its provision of aid to other states

Sustained Autonomy - An alternative political status for small islands?

This article originated as a paper presented at the Pacific Regional Seminar, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 8-10 June 1993, of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Alison Quentin-Baxter first discusses what she sees as the problems with both free association and integration of small island communities. She then advances an alternative model which she labels "sustained autonomy"

The UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People - The International and Constitutional Law Contexts

This article is an edited version of one of the six papers presented to the International Law Association/International Commission of Jurists seminar on the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was held in Wellington on 23 August 1997. The author discusses the New Zealand Government policy towards the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She first identifies key issues of international law, explores the relationship between the Draft Declaration and the Treaty of Waitangi, and looks at some implications of both for the New Zealand legal system and our national society. In doing so, the author focuses on the political rights of indigenous peoples – particularly the principles underlying those rights, not the way they are expressed in the text. The author concludes that most, if not all, the significant changes in the international community and in the lives of nations have been brought about by acts of good faith. Accordingly, it is the author's belief that the end product is likely to be the strengthening of the national societies to which the indigenous peoples of the world belong.&nbsp

The Problems of Islands

The paper reproduced in this article was given at a public seminar held at Waitangi, Chatham Islands, on 5 and 6 February 1995 to discuss "Island Development and its Future". In it Alison Quentin-Baxter compares the legal situation of the Chatham Islands with the past and present situations of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, concluding that the Chatham Islands are not a non-self-governing territory but are an integral part of New Zealand. She then discusses the consequences of this status for the Chatham Islands, particularly in relation to the fish resources of their surrounding waters and suggests that the goal of self-government is not a realisable one. She proposes instead a dialogue with New Zealand Ministers in an effort to reach acceptable, pragmatic solutions, perhaps involving some legislative changes of a constitutional nature giving greater authority to local government in the Chatham Islands or modifying the application there of some Acts of Parliament, so as to take account of the practical problems that offshore islands experience

Niue's Relationship of Free Association with new Zealand

This article provides an account of the relationship between Niue and New Zealand. Because Niue is both a self-governing state and one who has a relationship of free association with New Zealand, Niue's government makeup is both constitutional and contractual. The article discusses the principles of Niue's free association status with New Zealand in light of its constitutional makeup. The nature of the relationship between New Zealand and Niue is discussed in general terms, and the principles of economic and administrative assistance from New Zealand is explored in greater detail. &nbsp

The Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau as Parts of the Realm of New Zealand

The focus of This Realm of New Zealand by Alison Quentin-Baxter and Janet McLean was on the constitutional monarchy and its relationship with the laws of mainland New Zealand. This article complements This Realm of New Zealand by focusing on the constitutional monarchy and its relationship with other countries of the Realm of New Zealand – the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau

Human Rights and Decolonisation

This article provides a brief introduction to Professor RQ Quentin-Baxter and Alison Quentin-Baxter's papers found in this journal. They reveal insights which the authors derived from their personal involvement in areas of both national and international decision-making: the international implementation of human rights, and the transformation of Niue from its position as a colony to a self-governing state in a relationship of free association with New Zealand

The United Nations Humans Rights Commission and the Search for Measures of Implementation

While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights claims to represent the basis of the law of nations and humanity, the message has not yet made much stir outside the small world of scholarship. It was frequently said that the era of international legislation must be followed by a period of concentration upon measures of implementation, and the Human Rights Commission has already turned its attention to that task. This paper traces the Commission's efforts and makes an assessment of their prospects of fruition, concluding that national sovereignty remains a significant obstacle.&nbsp