The Māori Land Court uses legal words that might feel different from the cultural values that connect you to your whenua. You will also hear our judges and staff regularly speaking te reo Māori during court hearings. To help, there are two resources that explain these words and give their te reo Māori translations.
During your journey with the Māori Land Court, you will hear and see many legal terms. These can feel far from the cultural values that connect you to your whenua. To help you understand, a glossary is available which explains the meaning of common words used in the Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court.
Te reo Māori is recognised as a taonga and official language of New Zealand. Any person appearing in the Māori Land Court, or in any court in New Zealand, can speak or file written documents in te reo Māori as a right under the Māori Language Act 2016. To support the use of te reo Māori in court, Judge Alana Thomas has created a kuputaka of legal terms in te reo Māori.
You can use both documents together by checking the kuputaka to see te reo Māori translations and then look at the glossary if you want to know what the words mean.
These are the two documents you can use:
- Glossary: this one has common words used in the Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court. Each one explains what the words mean, like a dictionary, to help make things clearer for you.
- Kuputaka: this one is a bigger list of words used in the Māori Land Court, Māori Appellate Court, and Waitangi Tribunal. It gives you the te reo Māori translation for each word.
He aratohu kia mārama ai ki ngā kupu o Te Kooti Whenua Māori
Guide to underatand the words used in the Māori Land Court
Download the resource here:
He rauemi reo Māori mō ngā kupu e whakamahia ana i te Kooti Whenua Māori me te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi
A te reo Māori resource for words used in the Māori Land Court and the Waitangi Tribunal
Download the resource here: