By GREGG WYCHERLEY, RICHARD KNIGHT
The informal adoption of baby Kahu by Donna Hall and Eddie Durie is common among Maori but occupies a legal grey area.
Law Commission president Bruce Robertson said Maori customary adoption, known as whangai, was not illegal, but was not regarded as a formal adoption under
New Zealand law.
"It is an arrangement which is outside the provisions of the Adoption Act 1955.
"I think it is fair to say that this is an area which the law has not definitively grappled with."
Mr Robertson was not aware of any cases where whangai adoption had been contested in court.
"It would become at that point an issue of determining custody and access rights under the Guardianship Act so that welfare of the child would become the paramount consideration.
"It's a very difficult one - this has been a part of Maori culture for a long time."
A whangai child is accepted as a member of the family, and the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 makes provision for such offspring to inherit land.
Te Arawa kuia Bubbles Mihinui said whangai adoptions happened for many reasons.
In Kahurautete's case, it was to ease Donna Hall's loss of a child to spina bifida when she was 7 1/2 months pregnant.
"Donna has adopted her sister's child - as far as our thinking would go it's hers because they're the same bloodline."
A Maori Land Court spokesman said if there was any inheritance dispute, the judge would call for evidence from the family on how the child was raised.
In some families, the first-born were raised by grandparents to learn customs and language.
Full coverage: Baby Kahu kidnapping
Picture: Kahurautete Durie
Picture: Kahurautete's clothing
Picture: the car being sought by police
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