Urewera Panui

Urewera (Wai 894) Pānui Kerēme No.1 - Extract

December /Hakihea 2001
Kia ora koutou,

As part of its strategy for the proposed Urewera hearing district, the Waitangi Tribunal is carrying out an extensive programme of facilitation with all claimants, their representative bodies and interested parties to this inquiry. This bulletin is one such strategy. Its purpose is to inform people on progress within the Urewera hearing district and to share information as widely as possible. This bulletin will be the first in series that will be sent out up to the commencement of the Tribunal hearings in the Urewera.

Urewera Tribunal Appointed

A Tribunal has been appointed to hear the claims in the Urewera district. The members of this Tribunal are Judge Patrick Savage, Professor Ann Parsonson, Ms Joanne Morris and Mr Rangithi Tahuparae.

Judge Patrick Savage (Whānau a Ruataupare) has been a Judge of the Māori Land Court since 1995. He has presided over the Waitangi Tribunal hearings for the kiwifruit export and radio spectrum claims.

Joanne Morris was a commissioner at the New Zealand Law Commission from 1994 to 1999, having previously been a senior lecturer in law at Victoria University of Wellington. She presided over the Waitangi Tribunal hearing into the Tarawera Forest claim in 2000 and has a long history of involvement as a Tribunal member for numerous claims.

Rangitihi Tahuparae (Whanganui Nui Tonu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Taranaki Nui Tonu) has been trained as a custodian of tribal knowledge and has worked as a cultural advisor to the Governor-General, the chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, and the mayor of Wellington. He also has a background in radio, television and film.

Doctor Ann Parsonson is a senior lecturer in history at the University of Canterbury. She has specialised in Māori history and has worked with iwi, researching and writing several major reports for Waitangi Tribunal claims. She has recently been sitting on the Tribunal for the Gisborne hearing.

The appointment of the Tribunal was announced on 14 December, in a memorandum on Central North Island claims released by Chief Judge Joe Williams and Joanne Morris, (Wai 791 doc 2.49). The same memorandum set out the newly defined western boundary of the Urewera inquiry district, which is also the eastern boundary of the Central North Island inquiry district. The boundary is shown in the attached map.

The New Approach and Inquiry Progress: The beginning of conferencing

The Waitangi Tribunal has recently adopted a New Approach to inquiries into historical claims. This New Approach was originally adopted last year in the Gisborne inquiry in response to a general attitude that existing claims processes were taking too long. The new approach is designed to speed up the process of a Tribunal inquiry by clarifying issues before the actual hearings begin.

It is intended that the claims process will be improved by focusing on three areas at judicial conferences to be held before hearings begin:

1. Representation
2. Research
3. Particularised statements of claim

To operate effectively under the New Approach it is important that claimants begin preparing for these judicial conferences now. All claimants and interested parties will be able to attend judicial conferences, but the need for quick responses to directions from the Tribunal makes it more important than ever that claimants are represented by legal counsel. The three key areas that will be discussed at the conferences will be:

Representation

• Identifying all the claimants and the specific grievances against the Crown
• Clarifying which claims are made on behalf of which groups
• Sorting out who has the mandate to represent the groups making the claims

Research

• Making sure all the key research issues for the claims have been covered
• Setting up any remaining research projects, while avoiding unnecessary duplication
• Compiling research into a casebook to be sent out to all claimants

Particularised statements of claim

• Preparing statements of claim listing the exact grievances against the Crown in some historical detail
• The Crown will make a Statement of Response to the claim issues identified
• The Tribunal will compile a Statement of Issues identifying points of contention between the claimants and the Crown

Future issues of this pānui will keep you informed of when and where these conferences will be held. We will also describe in more detail what is involved in making a claim and following it through the research, conferencing and hearing processes.

NB It is important to note that it is intended that the deadline for finishing the research casebook for the Urewera inquiry district will be June 2002.

Claims within the Urewera District Enquiry
For your information we have set out below a list of claims that are either within the Urewera inquiry district or have areas or issues that overlap into the Urewera inquiry district. Please note that the Combined Record of Inquiry for the Urewera claims has been designated as Wai 894.

Table of claims in the Urewera District

(NB Claims to be included in the Inquiry and boundaries of this district will be formally decided at a future judicial conference)

The Registrar

Waitangi Tribunal

PO Box 5022

Wellington

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