Waitangi Tribunal

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Investigatory powers

• Generally, the Tribunal has authority only to make recommendations. In certain limited situations, the Tribunal does have binding powers, but in most instances, its recommendations do not bind the Crown
  The Crown
  
  Throughout the Commonwealth realms, the Crown is an abstract metonymy concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government....
  , the claimants, or any others participating in its inquiries. In contrast, courts can make rulings that bind the parties to whom they relate.

• The Tribunal's process is more inquisitorial and less adversarial than that followed in the courts. In particular, it can conduct its own research so as to try to find the truth of a matter, whereas courts generally must decide a matter solely on the evidence and legal arguments presented by the participating parties.

• The Tribunal's process is flexible - the Tribunal is not necessarily required to follow the rules of evidence that generally apply in the courts, and it may adapt its procedures as it thinks fit. For example, the Tribunal may follow 'te kawa o te marae
  Marae
  
  A marae malae , malae , is a sacred place which served both religious and social purposes in pre-Christian Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the word also means "cleared, free of weeds, trees, etc." It generally consists of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular , bordered with stones or wooden posts perhaps w...
  '. In contrast, the procedure in courts is much less flexible, and there are normally strict rules of evidence to be followed.

• The Tribunal does not have final authority to decide points of law. That power rests with the courts. However, the Tribunal has exclusive authority to determine the meaning and effect of the Treaty as it is embodied in both the Maori and the English texts.

• The Tribunal has a limited power to summons witnesses, require the production of documents, and maintain order at its hearings. But it does not have a general power to make orders preventing something from happening or compelling something to happen. Nor can it make a party to Tribunal proceedings pay costs.

Key points

• The Tribunal does not settle claims; it only makes recommendations to the Government. It is not involved in the settlement process, and claimants agree not to pursue matters through the Tribunal while they are engaged in the negotiation process.

• Claims are settled by negotiation with the Government. The manages the negotiation of Treaty settlements for the Government, and all matters related to negotiations should be addressed to that office.

• The Tribunal cannot make recommendations over the return of private land. It may inquire into and report on claims relating to land that is privately owned, but unless the land is memorialised, the Tribunal may not recommend that it be returned to Maori ownership or that the Crown acquire it. (Memorialised lands are lands owned, or formerly owned, by a State-owned enterprise or a tertiary institution, or former New Zealand Railways
  New Zealand Railways Corporation
  
  ONTRACK is the trading name of the infrastructure arm of the New Zealand Railways Corporation , the State-owned enterprise that runs nearly all of New Zealand's railways on behalf of the Crown....
   lands, that have a memorial (or notation) on their certificate of title advising that the Waitangi Tribunal may recommend that the land be returned to Maori ownership.)

• The Tribunal can register the claim of any Maori with a grievance against a policy, practice, act, or omission of the Crown. The Tribunal is not required to check that a claimant has a mandate from any group, but it may refuse to inquire into a claim that is considered to be frivolous or vexatious.

See also

• Treaty of Waitangi
  Treaty of Waitangi
  
  The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on February 6, 1840, by representatives of the United Kingdom The Crown, and various Maori chiefs from the northern North Island of New Zealand....
  
• Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
  Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
  
  Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements have been a significant feature of New Zealand race relations and politics since 1975. Over the last 30 years, New Zealand governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Maori to seek redress for breaches by the Crown of the guarantees set out in the Treaty of Waita...
  
• New Zealand land wars
  New Zealand land wars
  
  The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Maori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872....
  
• New Zealand land confiscations
  New Zealand land confiscations
  
  The New Zealand land confiscations took place during the 1860s to take the land of Maori who refused to sell for white settlement. The confiscation law targeted Maori against whom the government had waged war during the New Zealand land wars....
  
• History of New Zealand
  History of New Zealand
  
  The history of New Zealand dates back at least 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Maori culture centred on kinship links and land....
  

External links