The Māori Land Court (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

: Te Kōti Whenua Māori) is the specialist court of record in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

that hears matters relating to

land.

Māori Land Court history

The Māori Land Court was established in 1865 as the Native Land Court of New Zealand under the Native Lands Act. The court was established to facilitate the purchase of Māori land by the Crown by converting collectively owned Māori customary land into Māori freehold land. The Act created the Native Land Court to identify ownership interests in Māori land and to create individual titles (in place of customary communal title) that were recognisable in English law. Under the Native Lands Act 1865 only ten owners could be listed on land titles issued by the court. As outlined by Williams, "government policy from 1858 onwards ... sought to introduce a rapid individualisation of ancestral Māori land in order to ensure the availability of most of that land for settlement by Pakeha settlers". A continuation of the native land policies of 1862, the intention outlined in the Preamble of the 1865 Act was “to encourage the extinction of such ativeproprietary customs”. One means of fulfilling this intention was to limit to ten the number of owners able to be issued a Certificate of Title. Francis Fenton was the chief judge from 1865 to 1882. The court caused major ructions within some

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

as the court gave a democratic power to ordinary Māori that previously had been the domain of chiefs only. Judges often heard weeks of oral evidence to prove a claim to the land. Judges were totally independent from the government and their decisions were binding on the government. Judges often made their own rules as points of law arose but the general principle was equity. One of the most dramatic cases was the claim of Ngati Mutanga for their previous land in North Taranaki in 1870. The entire iwi abandoned the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

(which they had invaded in 1835) to come to the court hearing. The court encouraged Māori to sell land to private buyers. But the Crown remained the biggest purchaser. Most Māori-owned land was sold during the economic recession of the 1890s. 2.7 million acres was sold to the government and 400,000 acres to private individuals. The Native Lands (Validation of Title) Act 1892 was passed by the Liberal government to stop any type of fraudulent deals and to give security of title to purchasers. The Act guaranteed Māori a reasonable price for their land. The government on-sold most of its Māori land, often for a profit. The rationale behind the legislation was to unlock under-used land owned by Māori (and also pastoralists with vast landholdings) and sell it to "thrifty, hardworking industrious and independent hardworking individuals." The Liberals saw this as essential economic development. By 1939, almost 100 years after the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

was signed, Māori retained just 1 percent of the South Island and 9 percent of the North Island. Land losses continued as the 20th century progressed, again supported by legislation. During the 1950s and 1960s there was a major review of Māori land legislation. It was recognised that the previous legislative framework had had a detrimental effect on Māori society and the new legislation attempted to improve the situation by giving the a stronger focus on protecting Māori land from alienation. In 1954, the Native Land Court name was changed to the Māori Land Court. Originally the court was established to translate customary Māori land claims into legal

land title In property law, title is an intangible construct representing a bundle of rights in (to) a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different ...

s recognisable under

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

. In 1993, the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act expanded the court's jurisdiction to allow it to hear cases on all matters related to Māori land.

Māori Land Court today

The court has no centralised courthouse but has a head office in Wellington and sits in various cities and towns in New Zealand as needed. The court maintains registries in Whangarei,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Gisborne,

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. It also has information offices in

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and Turangi. The Māori Land Court districts are Taitokerau, Waikato-Maniapoto, Waiariki, Tairāwhiti, Tākitimu, Aotea and

Te Waipounamu The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman S ...

. Appeals from the Māori Land Court are heard by the Māori Appellate Court, which consists of a panel of three (or more) judges of the Māori Land Court. The Māori Land Court or the Māori Appellate Court may request an opinion on a matter of law from the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration ...

; such decisions are binding on the Māori Land Court. Appeals from the Māori Appellate Court, if permitted, lie with the Court of Appeal, and from there to the Supreme Court.

Māori land status

Māori land is a unique status of land in New Zealand. The definition of Māori land is provided by section 129 of

Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 (or the Māori Land Act 1993) is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand to "reform the laws relating to Māori people, Māori land in accordance with the principles set out in the Preamble". These principles " ...

. The Act recognises Māori land as taonga tuku iho, a treasure to be handed down. The Māori Land Court promotes the retention and use of Māori land; and facilitates the occupation, development and use of that land. In pre-European times, the system of Māori land ownership was based on rights to occupy and use ancestral land. These rights were not held by individuals, but collectively by all members of a

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...

. Following the signing of the

in 1840, two methods were used by the Crown to obtain Māori land: Crown acquisition and, after the passage of the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, '' raupatu.'' Conflict relating to the sale of land to settlers led to the enactment of the Native Lands Act 1865. Māori Freehold Land came into being in one of three ways. Either it was set aside by the Crown from the Māori customary land purchased for the settlement of New Zealand; the ownership of Māori customary land has been investigated by the Māori Land Court and a freehold order has been issued; or the Māori Land Court has determined its status as Māori freehold land. Māori customary land is held in accordance with

tikanga Māori Tikanga is a Māori concept incorporating practices and values from mātauranga Māori, Māori knowledge. Tikanga is translated into the English language with a wide range of meanings — culture, custom, ethic, etiquette, fashion, formali ...

and has not been converted to Māori freehold land by the Māori Land Court. Very few customary land blocks remain. They total less than .

Current Māori Land Court judges

Māori Land Court judges are appointed by warrant issued by the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

. the judges are (in order of seniority): * Chief Judge Wilson Isaac * Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox * Judge Sarah Reeves * Judge Carrie Wainwright * Judge Stephanie Milroy * Judge Craig Coxhead * Judge Michael Doogan * Judge Miharo Armstrong * Judge Terena Wara * Judge Damian Stone * Judge Aidan Warren * Judge Rachel Mullins * Judge Te Kani Williams

References

External links