Commonwealth Countries Act 1977

1: Short Title
This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth Countries Act 1977.
2: Membership of Commonwealth
1: In any proceeding before any court or any person acting judicially—
a: a certificate signed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
b: if no certificate pursuant to paragraph (a) is produced relating to it, the fact that a country is specified in Schedule 1
2: The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, amend the said Schedule 1
3: An Order in Council pursuant to subsection (2) shall come into force or be deemed to have come into force on a date specified therein, whether that date is before, on, or after the date of the making of the order.
4: The court or person acting judicially to which or to whom any certificate under subsection (1)﻿(a) is produced shall take judicial notice of the signature thereon of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
5: For the purposes of this section,— court the District Court District Court
a: the Family Court; and
b: the Youth Court person acting judicially proceeding
a: a proceeding conducted by a court; and
b: any interlocutory or other application to a court connected with a proceeding.
6: An order under subsection (2)—
a: is secondary legislation ( see Part 3
b: commences in accordance with subsection (3), even if it is not yet published. The following table is small in size and has 3 columns that are grouped under the heading Legislation Act 2019 requirements for secondary legislation made under this section. Legislation Act 2019 requirements for secondary legislation made under this section Publication PCO must publish it on the legislation website and notify it in the Gazette LA19 s 69(1)﻿(c) Presentation The Minister must present it to the House of Representatives LA19 s 114 cl 32(1)﻿(a) Disallowance It may be disallowed by the House of Representatives LA19 ss 115 116 This note is not part of the Act. Section 2(1)﻿(a) amended 1 July 1993 section 6(1) Foreign Affairs Amendment Act 1993 Section 2(4) amended 1 July 1993 section 6(1) Foreign Affairs Amendment Act 1993 Section 2(5) substituted 1 August 2007 section 216 Evidence Act 2006 Section 2(5) court amended 1 March 2017 section 261 District Court Act 2016 Section 2(5) District Court replaced 1 March 2017 section 261 District Court Act 2016 Section 2(6) inserted 28 October 2021 section 3 Secondary Legislation Act 2021
3: Operation of New Zealand law with respect to certain Commonwealth countries
All existing law—that is to say all law, whether a rule of law or a provision of an Act of any Parliament or a provision of any other enactment or instrument whatsoever—shall, until provision to the contrary is made by the authority having power to alter that law, have the same operation with respect to every Commonwealth country of which Her Majesty is not Head of State (whether by virtue of that country's having become a republic or otherwise) as it would have if Her Majesty were Head of State.
4: Operation of New Zealand law with respect to the Republic of Ireland
All existing law as aforesaid shall, until provision to the contrary is made by the authority having the power to alter that law, operate with respect to the Republic of Ireland as if it were a Commonwealth country and not a foreign country.
5: Application of Act to Tokelau
This Act shall be in force in Tokelau.
6: Consequential amendment and repeals
1: Amendment(s) incorporated in the Act(s)
2: The enactments specified in Schedule 2