These updates, made through the Māori Land Court Amendment Rules 2026, are designed to make it easier for Māori landowners and whānau to engage with the Court and have their matters dealt with efficiently and fairly.
• Rapua mā te ingoa tuatahi me te ingoa whānau o te kaipupuri mēnā e mōhiotia ana.
• E tūtohu ana mātou kia pato koe i te tohu % i waenga i te ingoa tuatahi me te ingoa
whānau mēnā he ingoa waenga tō te tangata, i te wā tuatahi e rapu ana rānei, hei tauira
Tāne%Wahine me te tauira i raro.
Chief Judge Fox (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau a Apanui) is the 17th
Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court, and the first wahine Māori to hold the role.
For detailed steps on using the Search menu to find an ownership, please refer to the Search for
an ownership guide available in the same guidance area as above.
When you submit an application, you’ll need to include information about the trust and trustees. The Court will review:
day-to-day management of the trust
financial management of the trust
documentation of the trust, and
the terms of the trust.
There are many ways Māori connect with and utilise whenua, depending on the economic, social, and cultural aspirations of the whānau for the whenua. The Māori Land Court, alongside our partner agencies, are here to support you and your whānau throughout your whenua journey.
Today, many Māori landowners continue to act as collective kaitiaki of their whenua, to honour and protect their land as taonga-tuku-iho. Our role as Te Kooti Whenua Māori is to facilitate and promote the retention and use of Māori land, and support whānau to occupy, develop and use their whenua.
The new mediation provisions give the Court and Māori land owners a grand opportunity to
define how we will resolve differences for the benefit of whānau, hapū and iwi.
Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu, (with feathers the bird will fly)
Mauri ora
