The Legitimacy of government and the normative influence of the Crown on a political construct

Noel Cox, Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

The Crown holds the conceptual place held by the State in those legal systems derived from or influenced by the Roman civil law. Not only does the Crown provide a legal basis for governmental action, but it provides some of the legal and political legitimacy for such action. The first section of this paper looks at what is meant by legitimacy, and its place in the constitutional order. The second section looks at challenges to this legitimacy. The third section examines the concept of the rule of law and the normative effect of the Crown, and how this has influenced the evolution of the constitution.