The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration

Reprint
as at 25 May 2007

Crest

The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration

(SR 2007/116)

Elizabeth R

Royal Warrant

Note

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint.

The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration is administered by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to all whom these Presents shall come,

Greeting!

Whereas We are desirous of instituting a decoration to honour those members of the New Zealand Armed Forces who render distinguished or meritorious service:

We do by these Presents for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, institute and create a new decoration.

1 Style

  • The decoration shall be styled and designated “The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration”.

2 Description

  • The decoration shall be a silver representation of 8 blades of a Kotiate (lobed club) in a circle, bearing—

    • (a) on the obverse, in the centre, a Royal Crown; and

    • (b) on the reverse, the inscription “FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE – MO NGA TE MAHI KAHURANGI”.

3 Ribbon

  • The decoration shall be worn from the left breast suspended from a ribbon, 32 mm in width, of 5 stripes of dark blue, yellow, red, yellow, and dark blue.

4 Post nominal letters

  • Recipients of the decoration shall have the privilege of placing the letters “DSD” after their name.

5 Bar

    • (a)Persons to whom the decoration has been awarded who for further services qualify for the decoration, shall be awarded a bar to their decoration.

    • (b)The bar to the decoration shall be of silver, oblong in shape, and bearing 2 New Zealand fern fronds.

6 Posthumous awards

  • The decoration and bar to the decoration may be awarded posthumously.

7 Promulgation

  • Awards of the decoration and bars to the decoration shall be promulgated in the New Zealand Gazette.

8 Register

  • The names of all those persons who receive the decoration and bars to the decoration shall be recorded in a register kept by the Clerk of the Executive Council of Our Realm of New Zealand.

9 Engraving of decoration and bar

    • (a)The name of the recipient and date of award shall be engraved on the reverse of the decoration; and

    • (b)The date of award of a bar to the decoration shall be engraved on the reverse of the bar.

10 Certificate

  • Every award of the decoration and bar to the decoration shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by Us, Our Heirs and Successors, and countersigned by Our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Realm of New Zealand.

11 Order of wear

  • It shall be competent for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, to determine from time to time, the order of wear of The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration in relation to the insignia of Orders of Chivalry and orders, decorations, and medals that have been or may be conferred in Our Realm of New Zealand.

12 Miniatures

  • Reproductions of the decoration and bars to the decoration in miniature, which may be worn on certain occasions by those to whom the decoration and bar is awarded, shall not exceed one half the size of the full-size decoration and bar.

13 Lapel badge

    • (a)A lapel badge may be worn by recipients of the decoration; on those occasions it is inappropriate to wear the full-size or miniature decoration, except that the lapel badge shall not be worn with official uniform.

    • (b)The lapel badge shall not exceed 18 mm in diameter, and shall consist of a red enamel disc with, in the centre, a representation of the decoration.

14 Eligibility

  • Serving members of the New Zealand Armed Forces, Regular, Territorial, and Reserve, shall be eligible for the decoration and bars to the decoration.

15 Eligibility: honorary

  • Commonwealth and foreign military personnel serving with, alongside, or on exchange with the New Zealand Armed Forces shall be eligible for an honorary decoration and bars to the decoration.

16 Making of awards

  • Awards of the decoration and bars to the decoration shall be made by Us, Our Heirs and Successors, only on a recommendation by our Prime Minister of New Zealand or a Minister of the Crown acting for our Prime Minister.

17 Delegated powers

  • Delegated powers to make awards of the decoration and bars to the decoration under the terms of this Our Warrant shall also be vested in Our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Realm of New Zealand.

18 Forfeiture and restoration

  • It shall be competent for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, or Our Governor-General of New Zealand under Our delegated authority, on a recommendation by our Prime Minister of New Zealand or a Minister of the Crown acting for our Prime Minister—

    • (a) to cancel and annul the conferment of the decoration or bar to the decoration, or both, thereof on any person and remove the person's name from the register; and

    • (b) where the conferment of the decoration or bar to the decoration, or both, on any person has been cancelled or annulled, to restore the decoration or bar to the decoration, or both, to that person and restore the person's name to the register.

19 Annulment

  • We reserve to Ourself, Our Heirs and Successors, full power of annulling, altering, abrogating, augmenting, interpreting, or dispensing with this Our Royal Warrant, or any part thereof, by a notification under Our Sign Manual.

20 Regulations

  • The decoration shall be awarded under Regulations that the Governor-General of New Zealand, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister or a Minister of the Crown acting for the Prime Minister, may determine.

Given at Our Court of Saint James's this 14th day of May 2007 in the 56th Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command.

Helen Clark,
Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Issued under the authority of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989.

Date of notification in Gazette: 24 May 2007.

Contents

  • 1General

  • 2Status of reprints

  • 3How reprints are prepared

  • 4Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989

  • 5List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first)

Notes
1 General

  • This is a reprint of The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration. The reprint incorporates all the amendments to The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration as at 25 May 2007, as specified in the list of amendments at the end of these notes.

    Relevant provisions of any amending enactments that have yet to come into force or that contain relevant transitional or savings provisions are also included, after the principal enactment, in chronological order.

2 Status of reprints

  • Under section 16D of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by the amendments to that enactment. This presumption applies even though editorial changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in the reprint.

    This presumption may be rebutted by producing the official volumes of statutes or statutory regulations in which the principal enactment and its amendments are contained.

3 How reprints are prepared

  • A number of editorial conventions are followed in the preparation of reprints. For example, the enacting words are not included in Acts, and provisions that are repealed or revoked are omitted. For a detailed list of the editorial conventions, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/legislation/reprints.shtml or Part 8 of the Tables of Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations, and Deemed Regulations in Force.

4 Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989

  • Section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 authorises the making of editorial changes in a reprint as set out in sections 17D and 17E of that Act so that, to the extent permitted, the format and style of the reprinted enactment is consistent with current legislative drafting practice. Changes that would alter the effect of the legislation are not permitted.

    A new format of legislation was introduced on 1 January 2000. Changes to legislative drafting style have also been made since 1997, and are ongoing. To the extent permitted by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, all legislation reprinted after 1 January 2000 is in the new format for legislation and reflects current drafting practice at the time of the reprint.

    In outline, the editorial changes made in reprints under the authority of section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 are set out below, and they have been applied, where relevant, in the preparation of this reprint:

    • •omission of unnecessary referential words (such as “of this section” and “of this Act”)

    • •typeface and type size (Times Roman, generally in 11.5 point)

    • •layout of provisions, including:

      • •indentation

      • •position of section headings (eg, the number and heading now appear above the section)

    • •format of definitions (eg, the defined term now appears in bold type, without quotation marks)

    • •format of dates (eg, a date formerly expressed as “the 1st day of January 1999” is now expressed as “1 January 1999”)

    • •position of the date of assent (it now appears on the front page of each Act)

    • •punctuation (eg, colons are not used after definitions)

    • •Parts numbered with roman numerals are replaced with arabic numerals, and all cross-references are changed accordingly

    • •case and appearance of letters and words, including:

      • •format of headings (eg, headings where each word formerly appeared with an initial capital letter followed by small capital letters are amended so that the heading appears in bold, with only the first word (and any proper nouns) appearing with an initial capital letter)

      • •small capital letters in section and subsection references are now capital letters

    • •schedules are renumbered (eg, Schedule 1 replaces First Schedule), and all cross-references are changed accordingly

    • •running heads (the information that appears at the top of each page)

    • •format of two-column schedules of consequential amendments, and schedules of repeals (eg, they are rearranged into alphabetical order, rather than chronological).

5 List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first)