The Judicial branch of government interprets the law of New Zealand and applies the law based on the statutes that are passed by the Parliament and also based on the Common law system. The common law system developed in England and is also referred to as ‘English Common Law’ at times.
The Common law system has developed over a period of time by various decisions of the Court’s especially based on customs and precedents which can be altered by the Court’s incase of any circumstantial changes.
The Judiciary is independent and there is separation of powers in New Zealand which means that each branch of governance i.e., legislature, executive and judiciary are independent yet the power and authority is not absolute so that there is no misuse of the powers that are granted to the branches. Each branch keeps a check over the functioning of the other branch despite there being separation of powers among the branches.
The judicial decisions can be appealed and the Supreme Court of New Zealand is the final Court of appeal. The Judges are independent and are free to determine each case according to the law and also according to the evidence that is presented in the Court.