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A former Maori Land Court chief judge says the institution needs to change to allow Maori landowners to make their own decisions.
The court is celebrating its 150th year at the same time as Maori land law is being done is undergoing a major overhaul.
The Waitangi Tribunal today starts a three-day hearing in whether the reform process and some of the key changes are in line with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Sir Taihakurei Durie says over the past 150 years the court has gone from being a way the crown took Maori land to being a place where Maori can develop structures to hold on to their land.
But he says too often the judges have imposed their own views of what should happen on the owners.
"Maori people must be in control of their own affairs. They must make their own decisions. The judges must not make a decision for them. The judges can only decide, has the decision been reached by a fair and just process," he says.
Sir Taihakurei Durie says protocols are needed because on the nature of multiple ownership of land and the fact the vast majority of owners now live in other parts of New Zealand or overseas.
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