Contrary to claims, there is a sound legal foundation for community checkpoints organised by iwi, write legal scholars Max Harris and Professor Emeritus David V Williams. New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus crisis has involved significant community cooperation. Household bubbles have observed physical distancing rules. People have helped each other understand what’s prohibited at level … Read more
Ātea editor Leonie Hayden headed out to the hui for a Māori-led inquiry into Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, and found a unified Māori force that has decided enough is enough. When first announced, Saturday’s Oranga Tamariki hui was to be hosted at Ngā Whare Waatea marae in Māngere. When four times the projected … Read more
A new report from the justice advisory group Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora challenges the government to find solutions in te ao Māori that restore relationships and mana instead of continuing to feed Māori into the criminal justice system. Grief. That was the overwhelming emotion people expressed to us when talking about the criminal … Read more
This week the Supreme Court dipped its toes into the troubled waters of the Crown’s settlement negotiations with Hauraki iwi in a decision on whether or not Ngāti Whātua can challenge elements of that settlement in court. Lawyer and mediator Baden Vertongen (Ngāti Raukawa) peels back the complex layers of that decision. In 2006, Ngāti Whātua sought to … Read more
Last week, a United Nations committee noted concerns about the lack of constitutional protection in New Zealand for some types of human rights, including rights of Māori. Treaty and constitutional law lecturer Carwyn Jones recommends the government revisit the relevant documents. Concerns were expressed last week by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural … Read more
It has been a landmark week for two prominent Māori lawyers – cause for much celebration among the Māori legal profession this Christmas. Last Friday Moana Jackson was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Victoria University of Wellington, and yesterday long-serving high court justice, and former chief judge of the Māori Land Court, Justice … Read more