Tikanga Māori and state law – an exploration of He Poutama: Part Three – Future Engagement

19 April 2024

Bell Gully’s Te Paewhiti Ture members, Rachael Brown, Dr Laura Hardcastle, Rhianna Morar (Ngāti Porou, Tapuika, Gujarat) and Nikorima Nuttall (Raukawa ki Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) have completed the final article of a three-part series with the Māori Law Review on Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission’s study paper, He Poutama. 

In this third article (read part one and two here), we consider part three of He Poutama addressing the Commission’s recommendations for future engagement between tikanga and state law. In summarising part three, we:

  1.  consider the principles for the common law’s engagement with tikanga and provide an overview of the three categories of claims identified by the Commission as engaging with both tikanga and the common law;
  2.  discuss the Commission’s views on how the courts may better engage with tikanga, including through the use of expert evidence on tikanga; and
  3. address the Commission’s recommendations for how the public service engages with tikanga, and, in particular, the additional guidance that it considers may assist public agencies with how to address tikanga as part of the policy and legislative process.

You can read part three in the Māori Law Review here.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with the contacts listed, or your usual Bell Gully adviser.


Disclaimer: This publication is necessarily brief and general in nature. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication.