Comparative Indigenous Law

Māori Law​

Māori Tino Rangatiratanga Flag 
(Image Source: Wikipedia)

Background​

The First Peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand are the Māori. Māori comprise 17.4% of New Zealand's population of 5.2 million (2022 census figures - source: Stats NZ). Māori are the largest minority group in New Zealand. Māori groups include iwi (tribes), hapū (sub-tribes) and whānau (extended families).  Māori and English are both New Zealand official languages.

Māori Law​

Māori law includes Māori customary law (tikanga Māori), New Zealand government law that affects only Māori, and also the interaction of Māori customary law with the general common and statute law of New Zealand.

For a succinct summary of Māori customary law, legal history and the place of Māori law within the contemporary New Zealand legal system, see the chapter on Māori Law in the following encyclopaedia:

Ally Author

Māori Law and Human Rights Law

For a comprehensive survey of the rights of Māori under international and domestic law, see for example, Chapter 16: 'Applying Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Aotearoa: Orthodoxy and Realism' by Claire Charters in the following book:

First Nations Authors