Hui looks at parallel justice for Maori

By RUTH BERRY political reporter

Calls for the powers of the Maori Land Court to be expanded or even transformed into a new Maori court with jurisdiction over family and criminal cases will be explored at a national hui starting in Taupo tomorrow.

The hui has been called by the Law Commission, the Justice Ministry and Te Puni Kokiri to debate the courts system, which is under review.

The proposed Supreme Court, on which Maori are split, will be a hot topic on the agenda.

So will the powers of the Maori Land Court, which are at the centre of the debate raging over the foreshore and the seabed.

The Government has signalled plans to curtail the land court's ability to define customary title and rights after the Court of Appeal's ruling on the foreshore and seabed.

Iwi are firmly opposed to the Government's plans, which will be discussed at the hui.

But opinion is divided on proposals to broaden the land court's powers in other directions.

The proposals will spark debate about how involved the court should become in tribal disputes and whether, or to what extent, Maori want a parallel justice system.

Law Commissioner Ngatata Love said the hui followed discussion documents put out by the commission almost two years ago on the court system. Dr Love said the commission was proposing widening of its jurisdiction to facilitate the resolution of disputes over such land.

The Waitangi Fisheries Commission also wants the land court to mediate disputes, such as those over boundaries, arising out of the fisheries settlement allocation.

Under the plan, key Maori community figures would help the court mediate or adjudicate.

"There is also a push [for it] to look at family and even criminal cases," Dr Love said.

There was a view - although not a proposal being pushed by the commission - that the land court's knowledge of tikanga Maori (custom) and Maori communities meant it could respond better to family disputes over custody and property.

Calls for the court, or a new Maori Court, to set up a parallel criminal jurisdiction were based on the same logic, Dr Love said.

"We're not talking about different laws here, we're talking about different processes."

The overall experience of Maori within the courts system - a fundamental pillar of democracy - was poor and needed to be addressed. Maori were over-represented in the criminal justice system, yet felt alienated within it.

Other proposals which could improve the court system's responsiveness to Maori could include new community courts, resulting in less formal processes for dealing with lower-level offending. Cases could be heard in community halls or marae.

Ngati Porou leader Api Mahuika told a parliamentary committee yesterday that before a Supreme Court could be introduced, the status of the land court had to be elevated as its current standing reflected badly on Maori.

Wellington-based Maori Legal Services lawyer Dale Takitimu yesterday urged caution over increasing the court's powers to deal with tribal disputes.

While it may yet be the only alternative, the matter had to be carefully investigated.

Maori Law Society president Matanuku Mahuika said some iwi believed such issues should be resolved internally and feared a big brother approach.

Fisheries Commissioner Maui Solomon said the land court would be a last resort, but some mechanism must be developed to resolve settlement and associated mandate and governance problems.

Mr Solomon and Ms Takitimu said extending the land court's jurisdiction to family and criminal cases would require a lot of thought.

Mr Solomon said "there would have to be a lot of discussion before that happened."

A spokesman for Associate Courts Minister Margaret Wilson said the minister would not comment until the law commission came out with its final recommendations, due this year.