New Zealand operates on the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty. Nevertheless, by convention there are a number of statutes that are of particular constitutional importance and are regarded as ‘higher law’. This is in the sense that they form part of the constitutional background or landscape by informing government practice and the enactment of other legislation. Moreover, cross-political consensus would be expected in the event of amendment or repeal of this legislation. Several of these statutes — the Bill of Rights Act of 28 August 1990 (Public Act No 109 of 1990), the Human Rights Act of 10 August 1993 (Public Act No 82 of 1993), and the Privacy Act of 17 May 1993 (Public Act No 28 of 1993) — are relevant to data protection. The constitutional importance of this legislation is reflected by the convention that they must be taken into account when developing or proposing new legislation.