Māori Law Review

Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa - hui-ā-tau

Keynote address - Keeping ourselves honest: Māori lawyers and mana-based change - Ani Mikaere

Te Kōti Matua - High Court

Takutai moana - tests to recognise customary marine title - Re Edwards (Te Whakatōhea No. 2) High Court [2021] NZHC 1025 - Andrew Irwin

Te Kōti Pīra Māori – Māori Appellate Court

Injunction - upheld - Peihopa v Peihopa - Kaikou H [2021] Māori Appellate Court MB 180 (2021 APPEAL 180) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

Injunction - status of land - forfeiture orders - Nicholas v The Official Assignee - Lot 6 DP 34349 [2021] Māori Appellate Court MB 228 (2021 APPEAL 228) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

Injunction - upheld - occupation order - no constructive trust - Nicholas v Te Amo - Te Whaiti-Nui-A-Toi Block [2021] Māori Appellate Court MB 273 (2021 APPEAL 273) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

Status of land - exception to s 2(2)(f)/53 applies - Peacocke - Part Puketiti 2B2B 1 [2021] Māori Appellate Court MB 48 (2021 APPEAL 48) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

Trusts - removal of trustees - conflict of interest - Walters v Wikiriwhi - Oruanui 9 and Others [2021] Māori Appellate Court MB 102 (2021 APPEAL 102) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

2021 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

Te Kōti Whenua Māori – Māori Land Court

Status of land - evidence of necessity - refusal to change status - Tapsell - Lot 1 Owhatiura South 5 Block (2021) 257 Waiariki MB 176 (257 WAR 176) - Elizabeth Derby

2021 Māori Land Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Land Court judgments - index

Legal education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Reflecting on a bijural, bilingual and bicultural law degree - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin and Toni Wharehoka

Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Waitangi Tribunal

Indigenous children and State care - He Pāharakeke, he Rito Whakakīkinga Whāruarua - inquiry into Oranga Tamariki - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Print version

Download the Māori Law Review July 2021 (479 KB PDF)

[2021] Māori Appellate Court 228 (2021 APPEAL 228)

17 June 2021

Application challenging a decision of the Māori Land Court dismissing an application brought by Ngāti Tai Hapū Incorporation for an urgent injunction to determine whether Maketū land is General land owned by Māori. Appeal dismissed. Ngāti Tai Hapū Incorporated had no standing to bring the application and the lower Court did not have jurisdiction to grant an injunction as the land is General land.

Download Nicholas v The Official Assignee - Lot 6 DP 34349 (258 KB PDF). read more

Re Edwards (Te Whakatōhea No. 2)

High Court [2021] NZHC 1025

7 May 2021

Several applicants have had their customary marine title (CMT) and protected customary rights (PCR) recognised over a number of areas in the eastern Bay of Plenty. This is the second case where the Court has made findings on CMT and PCR under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, and the first case to deal with overlapping applications and the requirements for rights recognition in detail.

Download Re Edwards (Te Whakatōhea No. 2) (2.4 MB PDF).

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[2021] Māori Appellate Court 273 (2021 APPEAL 273)

19 July 2021

This appeal was against an injunction preventing the applicant from occupying land on Te Whaiti-Nui-A-Toi and ordering her to remove a shed from the land. The applicant alleged that the Māori Land Court erred in finding that she was not entitled to a right of occupation of the shed and its surrounds on the basis of a constructive trust arising from a reasonable expectation. Appeal dismissed. Evidence supporting a right of occupation was lacking.

Download Nicholas v Te Amo - Te Whaiti-Nui-A-Toi Block (274 KB PDF) read more

[2021] Māori Appellate Court 180 (2021 APPEAL 180)

25 May 2021

Application challenging a decision of the Māori Land Court to grant an injunction removing Barry Peihopa from the Kaikou H Block after he refused to pay rent. Appeal dismissed. The issue sought to be raised on appeal was not raised in the lower Court, therefore there was no error in that decision.

Download Peihopa v Peihopa - Kaikou H (234 KB PDF) read more

[2021] Māori Appellate Court 102 (2021 APPEAL 102)

17 May 2021

Appeal against the Māori Land Court removing the appellants as trustees. The lower Court determined that one of the trustees (Mr Walters) had breached the trust order as he had voted and participated on matters despite having a clear conflict of interest. The rest of the trustees had breached their duties as they had failed to identify this conflict of interest. Further, the lower Court ordered Mr Walters to pay $128,475 to the trust. The appeals in relation to the conflict of interest and removal of trustees were dismissed and the appeal in relation to the payment owed by Mr Walters partially upheld.

Download Walters v Wikiriwhi - Oruanui 9 and Others (364 KB PDF) read more

Māori Land Court (2021) 257 Waiariki MB 176 (257 WAR 176)

30 June 2021

Application to change the status of land from Māori freehold land to General land to unlock the potential for developing whānau housing blocks.

Download Tapsell - Lot 1 Owhatiura South 5 Block (235 KB PDF) read more

[2021] Māori Appellate Court 48 (2021 APPEAL 48)

26 March 2021

Appeal challenging a decision of the Māori Land Court determining that Part Puketiti 2B2B 1 block was Māori freehold land. The trustees of Totoro Trust argued that the block was General land. Appeal dismissed. The Court confirmed that the land is Māori freehold land.

Download Peacocke - Part Puketiti 2B2B 1 (300 KB PDF) read more

Dixon - Succession to Hare Manukau

Māori Land Court [2021] Chief Judge's MB 887 (2021 CJ 887)

5 July 2021

Application to cancel succession orders on the basis that they were incorrect due to a mistake, error, or omission in the presentation of the facts of the case to the Court.

Download Dixon - Succession to Hare Manukau (942 KB PDF). read more

Hui-ā-Tau Conference 2021 - Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa

Ani Mikaere, Pou Whakatupu Mātauranga, Te Wānanga o Raukawa

3 July 2021

Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa held its annual conference from 1-3 July 2021 at the University of Canterbury. The theme of the conference, given by Moana Jackson, was 'Māori Lawyers as Agents of Mana-Based Change'. This theme encouraged presenters and conference participants to think deeply about how lawyers can contribute to social justice by pursuing change grounded in mana and tino rangatiratanga. Ani Mikaere was invited to give the closing keynote address of the conference to reflect on the conference theme and to challenge participants to pursue mana-based change.

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Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin^[1] and Toni Wharehoka^[2] reflect on what should happen next to realise the delivery of legal education in Aotearoa that is bijural, bilingual and bicultural. read more

Te Kōti Pīra - Court of Appeal

Leave to appeal - declined - no second appeal - Tito v Tito [2021] NZCA 164 - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

Te Kōti Matua - High Court

Judicial review - remedies recommendations - tikanga Māori - Mercury NZ Ltd v Waitangi Tribunal [2021] NZHC 654 - Carwyn Jones

Judicial review - Crown entity disposal of land - Stafford v Attorney-General [2021] NZHC 335 - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Costs - further declarations sought - Stafford v The Attorney-General [2021] NZHC 1466 - Elizabeth Derby

Takutai Moana - 2020 in review - Andrew Irwin

Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Waitangi Tribunal

Indigenous children and State care - He Pāharakeke, he Rito Whakakīkinga Whāruarua - inquiry into Oranga Tamariki - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Te Kōti Pīra Māori – Māori Appellate Court

2021 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

Te Kōti Whenua Māori – Māori Land Court

Trusts - AGM held online - COVID-19 - Pera v Broomfield-Hoet - Tuhuna 16B (2021) 229 Taitokerau 190 (229 TTK 190) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

2021 Māori Land Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Land Court judgments - index

Print version

Download the Māori Law Review June 2021 (457 KB PDF)

Mercury NZ Ltd v Waitangi Tribunal

High Court [2021] NZHC 654

30 March 2021

Partially successful judicial review of a preliminary decision of the Waitangi Tribunal to use its resumption powers to return two areas of land to Ngāti Kahungunu ownership. The decision was set aside and sent back to the Tribunal to reconsider.

Download Mercury NZ Ltd v Waitangi Tribunal (548 KB PDF).

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Court of Appeal [2021] NZCA 164

5 May 2021

Application for leave to appeal declined. The previous judgment was final and it is not open to the applicant to bring a second appeal.

Download Tito v Tito (225 KB PDF) read more

Stafford v The Attorney-General

High Court [2021] NZHC 1466

21 June 2021

Further judgment on costs and further declarations from the Court following the substantive judgment for this case issued earlier in 2021.

Download Stafford v The Attorney-General (260 KB PDF). read more

Andrew Irwin reviews procedural developments, principally from 2020 in the operation of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011.

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Stafford v Attorney-General

High Court [2021] NZHC 335

2 March 2021

This judicial review case examined the Crown's refusal to place a moratorium on the disposal of land held by Crown entities in the wake of the Supreme Court's Wakatū decision. The applicant, Mr Stafford, was partially successful in that the Court decided that Crown entities have a duty to inform him of the pending sale of land. However, the Court found that the Crown could not have ordered a moratorium on the sale of land owned by Crown entities, and even if it could, Ministers were not wrong to refuse to do so.

Download Stafford v Attorney-General (321 KB PDF).

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Waitangi Tribunal (Wai 2915, 2021)

29 April 2021

The Waitangi Tribunal has released its report on its urgent inquiry into Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children. The Tribunal found a number of Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, the most pervasive being Crown policy in place since the 1850s to assimilate Māori. The Tribunal examined changes to Oranga Tamariki as an organisation, introduced from 2017, and found that these are not enough to make the organisation's work Treaty compliant. The Tribunal recommended that an independent Māori Transition Authority be established to "identify the changes necessary to eliminate the need for State care of tamariki Māori." (At xiv.)

Download He Pāharakeke, he Rito Whakakīkinga Whāruarua (7.1 MB PDF). read more

Māori Land Court (2021) 229 Taitokerau 190 (229 TTK 190)

6 May 2021

Application challenges decisions made by Te Kotahitanga Māori Reservation Trust including holding the 2020 AGM online and passing a resolution allowing trustees to continue to be trustees beyond the expiry of their terms. Court held that the AGM must be held again and that the trustees’ terms had expired. 

Download Pera v Broomfield-Hoet - Tuhuna 16B (236 KB PDF) read more

Pūnaha whakawā - criminal justice

The emergence of whakamā in the sentencing process - Oliver Fredrickson and Stephen Woodwark

Te Kōti Matua – High Court

Ngā whakataunga tiriti - implementation - deferred selection properties - Poutu, Wano, Skelton, Kopu, Panoho, Ritai and Tamati v Attorney-General [2021] NZHC 723 - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Judicial review - non-notified grant of consent - Lysaght v Whakatane District Council [2021] NZHC 68 - Elizabeth Derby

Te Kōti Pīra Māori – Māori Appellate Court

2021 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Appellate Court judgments - index

Te Kōti Whenua Māori – Māori Land Court

Succession - giving effect to settlement of litigation - adjournment dismissed - Bisson v Otaraua Hapū Management Committee - Estate of Alayna Waimana Clark (2021) 431 Aotea MB 108 (431 AOT 108) - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Trusts – removal of trustees refused – new elections - Tūhoe - Nikora v Trustees of Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumatua Trust (2021) 252 Waiariki MB 158 (252 WAR 158) - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Trusts - trustee conflict of interest alleged - appointment adjourned - Knuckey v Telford - Wahapakapaka 7A Block (2021) 431 Aotea MB 119 (431 AOT 119) - Hinemoana Markham-Nicklin

2021 Māori Land Court judgments - index

2020 Māori Land Court judgments - index

Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Waitangi Tribunal

Waitangi Tribunal procedure - urgent inquiry declined - Ngāti Pāoa settlement claim - Wai 2982, #2.5.10 - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Waitangi Tribunal procedure - decision on urgent inquiry adjourned - Whakatōhea - Wai 2961, #2.5.4 - Zoe Rose-Curnow

Arotakena pukapuka – Book review

A Long Time Coming: The story of Ngāi Tahu's treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown - Carwyn Jones

Print version

Download the Māori Law Review May 2021 (374 KB PDF)

Poutu, Wano, Skelton, Kopu, Panoho, Ritai and Tamati v Attorney-General

High Court [2021] NZHC 723

1 April 2021

Unsuccessful litigation arising from an implementation issue in the Deed of Settlement between the Crown and Te Atiawa. The Deed mistakenly recorded Te Atiawa as being able to purchase 51 Crown properties at a 20 per cent reduction in value. In negotiating the settlement, the parties only intended one property to be purchased at a reduced price. The Court accordingly ordered rectification to reflect this.

Download Poutu, Wano, Skelton, Kopu, Panoho, Ritai and Tamati v Attorney-General (412 KB PDF).

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Lysaght v Whakatane District Council

High Court [2021] NZHC 68

10 February 2021

Judicial review applications in respect of a non-notified grant of consent by Whakatāne District Council for a service station located on a Māori roadway.

Download Lysaght v Whakatane District Council (693 KB PDF). read more

Nikora v Trustees of Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumatua Trust

Māori Land Court (2021) 252 Waiariki MB 157 (252 WAR 157)

21 April 2021

Application seeking the removal of trustees from the Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumatua Trust (TUT), on the basis that the trustees breached the trust deed in relation to trustee elections and convening annual general meetings. The Court declined to remove the trustees but did order new elections be held for two trustee positions.

Download Nikora v Trustees of Tūhoe – Te Uru Taumatua Trust (352 KB PDF) read more

Oliver Fredrickson* and Stephen Woodwark# discuss how whakamā is incorporated into the criminal justice system's sentencing process.

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Māori Land Court (2021) 431 Aotea MB 119 (431 AOT 119)

30 April 2021

Conflict of interest issues were raised in an application to appoint a trustee to the Wahapakapaka 7A Māori Reservation. The appointment application was adjourned to allow further submissions responding to certain allegations.

Download Knuckey v Telford - Wahapakapaka 7A Block (214 KB PDF) read more