Māori Law Review

Ngā ture o ngā iwi taketake - Indigenous law

Legal pluralism and reconciliation - Professor Val Napoleon

Te Kōti Pīra Māori – Māori Appellate Court

2019 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

Te Kōti Whenua Māori – Māori Land Court

Procedure - strike out - variation to roadway order - untenable - Ohinemango Lands Trust - Waikawa Pahaoa 1B & 1C 2C 1B (2019) 223 Waiariki MB 78 (223 WAR 78) - Toni Love

Injunction - trustee appointments - injunction declined - no jurisdiction - Nikora v Trustees of Te Uru Taumatua and Te Komiti o Runga (2019) 221 Waiariki MB 200 (221 WAR 200) - Sam Taylor

Injunction - refused - trustee elections - delay - Te Korowai Tiaki o Te Hauāuru Incorporated Society v Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Tama Trust (2019) 407 Aotea MB 47 (407 AOT 47) - Kelly Mitchell

Chief Judge's powers - clear and unambiguous statement to gift - no constructive trust - Cotter v Cotter - Tutaekuri B13 (2019) Chief Judge's MB 951 (2019 CJ 951) - Reto Blattner de-Vries

Rehearing - granted - out of time - notice insufficient for original application - Phillips v Paul - Mangorewa Kaharoa 6E3 No 2 Papakainga 15A2A (2019) 216 Waiariki MB 54 (216 WAR 54) - Sam Taylor

Rehearing - refused - insufficient grounds - Selwyn v Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board - Opape 1A19B (2019) 220 Waiariki MB 94 (220 WAR 94) - Reto Blattner de-Vries

Alienation - vesting - gift to whanaunga - Reedy v Atkins - Waitangi A1A1 (2019) 76 Tākitimu MB 54 (76 TKT 54) - Reto Blattner de-Vries

Occupation order - granted with conditions - Faulkner - Ohuki 1C Sec2 (2019) 183 Waikato Maniapoto MB 45 (183 WMN 45) - Sam Taylor

Trusts - review of trust confirmed - trustee removal dismissed -Puohotaua v Cribb (2019) 402 Aotea MB 230 (402 AOT 230) - Sam Taylor

Trusts - review of trust - lease of land - reasonable rent - Jones v Ratahi - Ngātitara 26B (2019) 403 Aotea MB 276 (403 AOT 276) - Toni Love

Trusts - administration of whānau house - conflict between will and terms of trust -Ngamotu - Karatia 3B2A2B2B and others (2019) 223 Waiariki MB 44 (223 WAR 44) - Reto Blattner de-Vries

2019 Māori Land Court judgments - index

Te Kōti Taiao o Aotearoa - Environment Court

Natural resource management - consent conditions - differing effects on mana whenua groups - Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd v Auckland Council & Panuku Development Ltd [2019] NZEnvC 184 - Tom Bennion

Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Waitangi Tribunal

Waitangi Tribunal procedure - urgent inquiry declined - not urgent - Te Wananga o Raukawa (Wai 2698, #2.5.10) - Meredith Clement

Waitangi Tribunal procedure - urgent inquiry declined - no jurisdiction - alternate remedies - not imminent - Wairoa settlement (Wai 2892, #2.5.5) - Meredith Clement

Print version

Download the Māori Law Review November 2019 (477 KB PDF)

Student Editor 2020

We are recruiting for our student editor role in 2020. Applications have closed. But if you might be interested for next year's appointment round please go here for details.

Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie student essay competition 2019

Rhianna Morar is the winner of the 2019 Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie student essay competition sponsored by the Māori Law Review. Her essay, about the Courts' interpretative approach to tikanga Māori will be published in the February 2020 issue of the Review.

Legal Pluralism and reconciliation[1]

Professor Val Napoleon[2]

In August 2019, the Māori Law Review, AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, and the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, jointly supported the visit to Aotearoa of Cree legal scholar, Professor Val Napoleon. During her visit to Aotearoa, Professor Napoleon delivered a number of lectures and presentations. The Māori Law Review is very pleased to publish Professor Napoleon’s essay entitled 'Legal Pluralism and Reconciliation', a version of which was originally presented at the Commission on Legal Pluralism conference that was held at the University of Ottawa in 2018

read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 221 Waiariki MB 200 (221 WAR 200)

17 October 2019

An urgent injunction was sought to restrain trustee appointments to Te Uru Taumatua Trust, a post-settlement goverance entity. The Court found that it did not have jurisdiction to grant the injunction sought.

Download Nikora v Trustees of Te Uru Taumatua and Te Komiti o Runga (282 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 223 Waiariki MB 44 (223 WAR 44)

8 November 2019

This application sought a review of trust and enforcement of trustee obligations. However, the core issue concerned authority to administer and make decisions in relation to the whānau home.

Download Ngamotu - Karatia 3B2A2B2B and others (308 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 223 Waiariki MB 78 (223 WAR 78)

8 November 2019

Application seeking to vary the terms of a roadway order struck out as untenable.

Download Ohinemango Lands Trust - Waikawa Pahaoa 1B & 1C 2C 1B (343 KB PDF). read more

4 November 2019

Application seeking to amend earlier succession orders. Directions to obtain further whakapapa evidence. No decision on substantive application.

Download Kapua - Estate of Ngamotu Paora (389 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 220 Waiariki MB 94 (220 WAR 94)

9 September 2019

Application for a rehearing dismissed. Fresh proceedings should be brought if there are grounds for doing so.

Download Selwyn v Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board - Opape 1A19B (322 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 76 Tākitimu MB 54 (76 TKT 54)

7 June 2019

The applicant sought to transfer by gift, his shares in Waitangi A1A1 to his whanaunga. Application granted. The Court record confirmed that the shares in the land were transferred to the applicant via his father. The property was the sole property of the applicant and his brother. There was no reason to decline the application.

Download Reedy v Atkins - Waitangi A1A1 (362 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 403 Aotea MB 276 (403 AOT 276)

29 July 2019

Application seeking a review of trust. The applicant claimed the trustees had acted imprudently over a lease of land. There was no breach of trust. The trustees acted prudently and reasonably by obtaining legal advice and obtaining a reasonable rental.

Download Jones v Ratahi - Ngātitara 26B (343 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 183 Waikato Maniapoto MB 45 (183 WMN 45)

16 July 2019

An application seeking an occupation order granted with conditions.

Download Faulkner - Ohuki 1C Sec2 (277 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 216 Waiariki MB 54 (216 WAR 54)

23 July 2019

Application for a rehearing of an application to create an ahu whenua trust granted. The applicant did not receive sufficient notice of the court sitting or of the meeting of owners discussing the establishment of the trust.

Download Phillips v Paul - Mangorewa Kaharoa 6E3 No 2 Papakainga 15A2A (291 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 402 Aotea MB 230 (402 AOT 230)

11 July 2019

Application seeking a review of Rakato B Residue Trust and seeking removal of trustees. The applicant was dissatisfied with the response of the trustees to her request to build on the land and their general conduct as trustees. The Court confirmed the review and dismissed the application to remove the trustees, but directed an election be held within six months. While the trustees are not meeting the trust order requirements for dealing with beneficiary concerns, this can be improved through better administration.

Download Puohotaua v Cribb (399 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 407 Aotea MB 47 (407 AOT 47)

23 October 2019

Application seeking an injunction in advance of determining an application about recent trustee elections and a trust's beneficiary register. Injunction refused.

Download Te Korowai Tiaki o Te Hauāuru Incorporated Society v Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Tama Trust (319 KB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2019) 223 Waiariki MB 182 (223 WAR 182)

13 November 2019

Application seeking removal of the trustees of a whānau trust. The Court invited the current trustees to resign, finding the trustees had failed to carry out their duties satisfactorily by allowing personal conflict to interfere with their management and they had failed to protect trust assets by not defending litigation brought against them.

Download Biddle v Biddle-Bassett - Te Atuareretahi and other blocks (159 KB PDF). read more

Decision on application for an urgent hearing

Waitangi Tribunal (Wai 2698, #2.5.10)

13 Mahuru (September) 2019

This application for an urgent inquiry into education issues was declined due to a lack of urgency.

Download Decision on application for an urgent hearing (816 KB). read more

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd v Auckland Council & Panuku Development Ltd

Environment Court [2019] NZEnvC 184

14 November 2019

A consent authority can take account of the fact that mana whenua interests will be of differing degrees of connection in assessing effects and setting conditions.

Download Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia Ltd v Auckland Council & Panuku Development Ltd (25 MB PDF).

read more

Decision on application for an urgent hearing

Waitangi Tribunal (Wai 2892, #2.5.5)

23 Mahuru (September) 2019

A decision on the application for an urgent inquiry into Wai 2892, the Wairoa Deed of Settlement (Callaghan) Claim. The claim concerns the Wairoa settlement process and the alleged failure of the Crown to protect the rights and interests of Ngai Te Rātakō. Urgency declined due to the Tribunal's lack of jurisdiction and the failure of the applicant to explore alternate remedies

Download Decision on application for an urgent hearing (816 KB). read more