This table lists the 2023 judgments of the Māori Appellate Court and contains links to reports about the decisions once decisions are released.
For other years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. Follow this link for the 2023 Māori Land Court judgments index.
Katherine Werry* discusses the criminalisation of care and protection issues for children. read more
Norman v Tūpuna Maunga Authority o Tāmaki Makaurau
Court of Appeal [2022] NZCA 30
3 March 2022
Application to appeal against a decision of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority o Tāmaki Makaurau ("Authority") to fell exotic trees and replace them with natives, and the decision of the Auckland Council to grant resource consent allowed.
Download Norman v Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority (842 KB PDF).
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Dave Randal, Thad Ryan, Frances Wedde, Chelsea Easter, Avikesh Chandra, Manahi Moana, Francesca Dykes, and Claudia van Zijl review legal developments from 2021 relating to Māori interests in natural resources.
Puha v Crawford – Mokoia 19A and Others
Māori Land Court (2021) 439 Aotea MB 68-77 (439 AOT 68)
15 October 2021
Application to review a whānau trust and enforce trust obligations. Trustees had breached their duties sufficient to warrant their removal.
Download Puha v Crawford – Mokoia 19A and Others (372 KB PDF) read more
This table lists the 2022 judgments of the Māori Appellate Court and contains links to reports about the decisions once decisions are released.
For other years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023. Follow this link for the 2022 Māori Land Court judgments index.
Oliver Fredrickson discusses how we might re-think sentencing discounts to reflect systemic deprivation in Aotearoa New Zealand. 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.
Oliver Fredrickson* and Stephen Woodwark# discuss how whakamā is incorporated into the criminal justice system's sentencing process.
A Long Time Coming: The story of Ngāi Tahu's treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown
Martin Fisher
Canterbury University Press, 2020 (ISBN 978-1-98-850311-0)
Reviewed by Dr Carwyn Jones
McGirt v Oklahoma
Supreme Court of the United States 140 S.Ct 2452 (2020)
9 July 2020
Stephen Young discusses the United States Supreme Court case of McGirt v Oklahoma, where the State of Oklahoma was found not to have jurisdiction to convict Jimcy McGirt for crimes committed on a Creek Reservation.
Ahorangi Professor Andrew Geddis discusses the establishment of dedicated Māori local government representation, and the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2021 enacted under urgency in 2021.
read more
Dave Randal, Chelsea Easter, Avikesh Chandra, Manahi Moana, Honor Kelly, and Eilís Donnelly review legal developments from the latter half of 2020 relating to Māori interests in natural resources. read more
This table will list the 2021 judgments of the Māori Appellate Court and contains links to reports about the decisions once decisions are released.
For other years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023. Follow this link for the 2021 Māori Land Court judgments index.
The Electoral Commission released the final results of the 17 October general election on 6 November 2020 and supplemented the results with more detailed analysis of voting behaviour in late November 2020. read more
Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie student essay competition 2020
Interrogating Ellis v The Queen: Tikanga Māori in the common law of Aotearoa New Zealand
Elliott Harris
In 2020 Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa (the New Zealand Law Society) and Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society) formalised their relationship in two significant ways: first, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU); then Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa established places for Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa and the Pacific Lawyers Association as permanent members of the governing Council of its organisation. Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa has also partnered with Te Aka Matua o Te Ture (the Law Commission). read more
I te tau 1987, i whakaturehia te reo Māori hei reo mana mō Aotearoa e te Ture mō te reo Māori me te ahei o ētahi tāngata ki te kōrero i te reo Māori i ngā kōkiritanga o te ture. Taka rawa mai ki te tau 2016, ka whakakorengia taua ture, kātahi ka whakakapingia tana tūranga e te Ture mō Te Reo Māori hou. Ko ngā hua o tēnei ture nei, ka pūmau tōnu te reo Māori ki tōna taumata hei reo mana mō Aotearoa, āpiti atu, i whakaūngia te reo Māori hei taonga mō te iwi Māori, he reo e kaingākautia ana e te motu whānui, ko te reo taketake ake o Aotearoa, ka mutu, he reo whakahirahira te reo Māori i te ahurea whānui o te motu. Toru tekau mā toru ngā tau ināianei mai i te whakaturetanga o te reo Māori hei reo mana o Aotearoa me te ahei ki te kōrero i te reo Māori i ngā Kōti, e uia tonu ana te pātai nui, āe rānei, nā ēnei whakaturetanga tō tātou reo Māori i whakaora i te pūnaha ture o Aotearoa?
E aro atu ana tēnei ātikara ki ngā whakaūnga a te Kāwanatanga e rārangihia ana i te Ture mō te reo Māori me te whakaaro mēnā e ngākau pono ana te Kāwanatanga ki aua whakaūnga me ā rātou here, ā rātou kawenga anō hoki i roto i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, me kōkiri tika atu te pūnaha ture o Aotearoa hei pūnaha ture kākano rua. read more
Notification of resource consent applications - decision-making in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Reto Blattner de-Vries
Reto Blattner de-Vries discusses discretionary decision-making around notification provisions under the Resource Management Act 1991 in contexts where a taonga resource of historical and cultural importance to tangata whenua is identified. read more
Dave Randal, assisted by Chelsea Easter, Alanna Garland Duignan, Frances Wedde and other colleagues at Buddle Findlay review legal developments from 2019 and much of 2020 relating to Māori interests in natural resources. read more
Te Ara Rangatū O Te Iwi O Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua Incorporated v The Attorney-General
High Court [2020] NZHC 1882
31 July 2020
Ngāti Te Ata brought proceedings against the Crown seeking declaratory relief in relation to land on the Āwhitu Peninsula which was all confiscated by or sold to the Crown in 1864. The High Court rejected the claims and suggested that this dispute was quintessentially a matter to resolve through Treaty of Waitangi settlement processes. We have reported the decision here. Professor Emeritus David V Williams comments on the decision. read more