Waitangi Tribunal

Closing Date for Submission of Historical Claims

In December 2006, the Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Act set a deadline of 1 September 2008 for the submission of all new historical claims to the Waitangi Tribunal. The Tribunal will not be able to register or inquire into any new historical claims submitted after that date.

Historical claims relate to legislation, policies, practices, acts or omissions of the Crown that occurred before 21 September 1992. If you already have a historical claim registered with the Tribunal (it has a Wai number), this deadline will not affect you. The same applies if you have previously sent your historical claim to the Tribunal and are waiting for it to be registered. In both cases you may still amend your claim after 1 September 2008.

Contemporary issues concern legislation, policies, practices, acts, or omissions of the Crown that arose only on or after 21 September 1992. If you have already submitted a contemporary claim but have historical grievances that you would also like the Tribunal to inquire into, you can amend your claim to include the historical issues. You must submit the amendment before 1 September 2008.

If you or your iwi, hapu, or whanau do not have a registered claim but have historical grievances to bring before the Tribunal, you should consider submitting a new historical claim. To qualify for registration, the claim can be stated in general terms and does not need to go into detail. Further information on how to submit a claim can be found here.

The 1 September 2008 deadline is rapidly approaching. If you are thinking about submitting a historical claim to the Tribunal you should get together and discuss the matter with your iwi, hapu, whanau, marae committee or representative.

Please note that all new historical claims and historical amendments to contemporary claims must reach the Tribunal’s offices by Monday 1 September 2008 at the latest. If you intend to send your claim by courier or post, the last full business day before the deadline is Friday 29 August 2008.

Informational judicial conferences

The Tribunal is holding a series of five judicial conferences during July in parts of the country where inquiries have not yet been held. The aim of these conferences is to provide information to the public and to potential claimants about the claims deadline and how to file a claim. You are warmly invited to attend any of these hui, which will start at 10am and finish around 12 noon, with morning tea provided.

The Chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal, Chief Judge Joe Williams, has released a memorandum regarding these judicial conferences that is available here.

Here is the schedule of judicial conferences:

Location: Opotiki
Date: Friday 18 July 2008
Venue: The Deluxe Theatre, Church Street, Opotiki

Location: Otaki
Date: Wednesday 23 July 2008
Venue: Otaki Memorial Hall, 81-83 Main Street, Otaki

Location: Taihape
Date: Thursday 24 July 2008
Venue: Otaihape Club, Hautapu Street, Taihape

Location: Auckland
Date: Friday 25 July 2008
Venue: Central Auckland Airport, Cnr Kirkbride and Ascot Roads, Mangere

Location: Tokoroa
Date: Monday 28 July 2008
Venue: St John's Ambulance Hall, Logan Street, Tokoroa

Making a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal

Information about making a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal can be found here.

Further Information

Information published by Te Puni Kokiri about the Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Act 2006 and the 1 September 2008 closing date for the submission of historical claims is available here. Te Puni Kokiri has published a press notice that provides summary information, downloadable here.

The Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Act 2006 can be viewed or downloaded here.

If you need further information please contact the Registrar, Waitangi Tribunal:
Street: Level 2, Fujitsu Tower, 141 The Terrace, Wellington
Postal: PO Box 5022, Wellington
Phone: (04) 914 3000
Fax: (04) 914 3001

or use our Contact Us form. If you wish to submit a new historical claim by email, please send it to WT.registrar@justice.govt.nz. To be accepted, it must be received by the Tribunal by midnight, Monday 1 September 2008.