Background +

The New Zealand Treaty settlement process was developed to resolve historical grievances between Maori and the Crown relating to the loss of land since British sovereignty.

A treaty settlement is an agreement to settle all of the claimant groups' (usually iwi or large hapu) historical claims against the Crown that occurred before 23 September 1992 (the date of the 'Sealord' Fisheries Settlement). These claims usually relate to actions or omissions by the Crown in relation to the following types of land loss:

• pre-1865 land transactions, including pre-Treaty purchases later investigated and validated ('Old Land Claims'), Crown purchases, and post-Treaty private purchases made during the Crown's waiver of its pre-emptive right to purchase Maori land;
• confiscation of Maori land by the Crown under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863; and/or
• transactions after 1865 under the various native/ Maori land laws.

Claims based on Crown actions or omissions after September 1992 are known as contemporary claims and are dealt with through separate processes.

Settlement process +

In order for the settlement process to begin, a claim must be registered with the Waitangi Tribunal.

Once this is done, claimant groups can either seek negotiations with the Crown straight away, or have their claims heard by the Tribunal before entering negotiations. Where a claimant group wishes to negotiate with the Crown, they have to demonstrate how the breach or breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi harmed their tupuna (ancestors).

The claimant group must provide a Deed of Mandate to the Crown which:

• defines the claimant group, the claim area and the claims that are intended to be settled;
• states who has the authority to represent the claimant groups in negotiation; and
• describes how the mandate was obtained and how the negotiators are to be held accountable to their community.

While each negotiation with claimant groups is different, there are four main steps that are followed:

• preparing claims for negotiation
• pre-negotiations
• negotiations
• ratification and implementation.

The Crown prefers that any negotiation with a claimant group cover all that group's historical claims so that the settlement is comprehensive. Through the Office of Treaty Settlements, the Crown provides a contribution to claimant funding with figures depending on the circumstances of the claim.

Negotiation phase +

To begin the negotiation phase, the Crown and the mandated representatives discuss the interests they wish to protect and promote, and try to reach agreement on particular proposals for settling the claim.

An Agreement in Principle or Heads of Agreement is then signed which records, in an open and transparent manner, the basic outline of the proposed settlement.

A draft Deed of Settlement detailing the comprehensive and final terms of the settlement and redress is then agreed to and must be approved by Cabinet and initialed between the Crown and the mandated representatives.

The redress that the Crown might give to the claimants may include:

• the Crown's acknowledgment and apology of past injustices
• financial and commercial redress
• the transfer of lands within the claim area
• mechanisms for recognising other important interests that claimants might have.

The Deed must be clearly approved by the wider claimant group before it becomes binding through a ratification process which involves a postal ballot available to all members of the claimant group over the age of 18. The proposed Governance Entity for the settlement, which will hold and manage settlement assets, can also be ratified at this stage. Once the Deed is ratified, the Crown and claimants sign the final Deed of Settlement at which time it becomes binding.

Nearly all Deeds of Settlement require that legislation be passed. Legislation ensures the finality of the settlement by removing the possibility of historical claims being re-opened by the courts or the Tribunal, and may be needed to vest land in the governance entity on behalf of the claimant group. Once the legislation has been introduced into Parliament and referred to a Select Committee, it is open to the public to make submissions to the Committee if they desire to do so.

Once the Select Committee has reported back to Parliament on the submissions, the Bill is then passed through its final stages and signed by the Governor-General. Once signed, the legislation allows the settlement assets to be transferred to the governance entity and the claimant group can begin to make use of the cultural redress provided in the settlement.

Read more +

• For a summary of Settlement Progress, see the Office for Maori Crown Relations website.
• To view a Claims Process flow chart, visit the Waitangi Tribunal website.