Waitangi Tribunal
| Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti | |
 |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Employees | 60 |
| Parent department | Special Jurisdictions |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Justice |
| Key document | |
| Website | Tribunal website |
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti) is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to actions or omissions of the Crown, in the period largely since 1840, that breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal is not a court of law; therefore, the Tribunal's recommendations and findings are not binding on the Crown. They are sometimes ignored, for instance in the foreshore and seabed dispute. The tribunal has made binding rulings on events prior to 1840, such as the invasion of the Chatham Islands by Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama in 1835, and the subsequent subjugation of the Moriori people. Abuse included murder, rape, physical and psychological torture and long-term enslavement.
The inquiry process contributes to the resolution of Treaty claims and to the reconciliation of outstanding issues between Māori and Pākehā. In 2014 the Tribunal found that the Maori had never intended to give up their sovereignty when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
In 1975 protests from indigenous peoples about unresolved Treaty of Waitangi grievances had been increasing for some time, and the Tribunal was set up to provide a legal process for the investigation of those grievances. The Honourable Matiu Rata was Minister of Māori Affairs in the early 1970s and the politician most responsible for the Tribunal's creation.
Originally the Tribunal could investigate grievances only since 1975, but in 1985 a law change meant the Tribunal's jurisdiction was extended back to 1840, the date of the Waitangi Treaty. The subsequent findings of many Treaty breaches by the Crown in various inquiries led to a public backlash against the Tribunal. The Tribunal has often been a political issue in the 1990s and 2000s.
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