legislation notwithstanding a negative vet, but it will usually be reluctant to do so. The effect of these requirements upon the government’s policy making system is substantial  and  has  an  important  deterrent  effect  on  policy  makers  promoting measures contrary to the rights and freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights.   13 A massive legal resource goes into producing these vets, and I doubt that many people   understand   how   far   the   Executive   Government   goes   to   ensure   its legislative proposals comply with the Bill of Rights.  The impact of this work may be more significant than that of the courts in ensuring New Zealand keeps to the standards  it  has  embraced.    It  is  important  to  note  that  the  vetting  process  has evolved.  It is now much more transparent and all vets are placed on the Ministry of Justice’s website.    What was achieved? 14 The interesting thing about the New Zealand experience with the Bill of Rights is that the measure has been effective in accomplishing its purpose despite the fact it is not superior law.  Parliament remains primarily in charge of the law making.  It needs  to  be  said,  however,  that  measuring  its  effect  in  empirical  terms  has  not been done and would not be easy to do. A recent legal text on the Bill of Rights in New Zealand occupying 852 pages points out modern human rights instruments “need not be entrenched as a supreme law to be both influential and effective.”¹¹   A more recent book by Andrew and Petra Butler is 1204 pages.¹²  There must be something going on here.    15 The reality is that fundamental rights and freedoms in New Zealand are protected by  the  New  Zealand  Bill  of  Rights  Act  1990.    Although  the  Courts  have  no powers   to   strike   down   legislation   incompatible   with   it,   they   may   make declarations  of  inconsistency  if  a  statute  is  not  capable  of  being  interpreted consistently with the Bill of Rights.¹³  The Bill of Rights in New Zealand gives the Courts powers that are additional to their ordinary and well established power                                                 11    Paul Risworth, Grant Huscroft, Scott Optican, and Richard Mahoney The New Zealand Bill of Rights (Oxford University Press, Auckland 2003) 2. 12   Butler, above n 10.   13   Some may quibble with this statement, but I take the view that in appropriate cases it is available.    6