June 18, 2014
Tribunal considers Tuhoronuku hearing
The Waitangi tribunal is holding a judicial conference today and tomorrow on whether it should hold an urgent hearing into the Ngapuhi treaty settlement process.
The crown wants to start direct negotiations with the Ngapuhi Runanga-linked body Tuhoronuku.
Te Runanga o Ngati Hine, which is one of more than a dozen groups opposing the process, says the crown has failed to adequately address concerns over the Tuhoronuku mandating process.
The runanga wants to negotiate a separate settlement for its own claims.
The crown says the process followed has been thorough and inclusive, and it believes the process will enhance relationships within the iwi.
The claimants’ chances of getting an urgent hearing may have been enhanced by a High Court decision that the tribunal had wrongly denied an urgent hearing on the Te Urewera Tuhoe settlement, because the Maori Land Court judge who made the decision did not have the proper authority.
The tribunal has corrected that by appointing Judge Sarah Reeves to the panel that will hear the claims, if she decides they qualifies for urgency.
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