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Crown officials could face misconduct charges over the deliberate withholding of information about a proposed $90 million cash and land deal for Ngati Whatua o Orakei.
The documents, which could derail the iwi's settlement, have been buried for four years.
They were produced from the Office of Treaty Settlements' archives after a direction by the Waitangi Tribunal, which is soon to report on an urgent inquiry held in March into the Auckland land claim.
The revelations show officials ignored serious concerns by settlements office senior policy analyst Peter Hodge about Ngati Whatua o Orakei's refusal to engage with other Auckland iwi with overlapping land claims. He warned in 2003 that the iwi's continued resistance to talking to other claimants was against crown policy and held considerable legal risk the settlement could be overturned.
Officials also suppressed advice from Crown Law historian Don Loveridge questioning the merits of Ngati Whatua o Orakei's claim.
Lawyers representing cross-claimants have been quick to raise the prospect of ethical misconduct charges - especially in light of documents which show Crown Law also knew of the suppressed historical research.
"There is a serious question as to whether there has been misconduct on the part of crown officials," Paul Majurey, lawyer for Marutuahu iwi, told the tribunal.
Lawyers are awaiting a tribunal ruling before pursuing misconduct remedies which could include a complaint to the Solicitor-General.
Tribunal Judge Carrie Wainwright has expressed concerns about the fairness of the process the settlements office followed.
She has delayed the tribunal's report until questions about the withheld documents are answered.
"We do not understand how they came to be overlooked until after the hearing," she said in a memorandum on Tuesday.
She was concerned, too, that despite extensive questioning during the March inquiry, officials who clearly knew about the documents did not reveal their existence.
Settlements office director Paul James said the office would respond to the judge's direction through the inquiry process. Crown Law missed the tribunal's Friday noon deadline and had not filed its response to Judge Wainwright last night.
