June 18, 2013
Arbitration proves value in super-heated dispute
A lawyer involved in the successful resolution of a long-running dispute between three Te Arawa iwi says it’s likely to lead to other iwi looking favourably at arbitration.
Donna Hall acted for Ngāti Wahiao in a case over the ownership of land at Whakarewarewa.
An arbitration panel consisting of retired Supreme Court justice Bill Wilson QC and Māori experts Erima Henare and Kevin Prime of Ngapuhi ruled the highly-prized thermal valley should be shared 50:50 by Ngāti Wahiao and Ngāti Whakaue, cutting out Tuhourangi.
Ms Hall says the tribes decided neither the Māori Land Court nor the Waitangi Tribunal were suitable venues, and a case that could have taken years was resolved in months.
"There was absolute confidence about the way procedural matters were dealt with. They were swift, they were rapid, and because you had a Supreme Court judge sitting there, none of the lawyers were going to have him on. We all knew that was what made that arbitration work so quickly," she says.
Ms Hall says the Māori Land Court is still the place to go on issues of law.
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