Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal ( Māori Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti ) is a New Zealand investigative commission that investigates Māori claims arising from the Waitangi Treaty of 1840.
The tribunal, founded in 1975, came into being in response to mounting allegations by the Māori about how the New Zealand state had dealt with their claims. The tribunal can investigate claims of any Māori who complains about government or failure to act. The Māori does not need any legitimation as a representative of a group, but the tribunal can immediately reject claims that are obviously unfounded.
In contrast to a regular court, the tribunal does not issue binding decisions, apart from a few exceptional cases, but can only make recommendations. The Māori have to conduct effectively binding negotiations with the Office of Treaty Settlements of the New Zealand state. If the disputed area is privately owned land, it cannot make any recommendations. The exception here is land that is Memorialised Lands - these are areas that were formerly owned by a state company or the New Zealand Railways Corporation and that have been noted that they are state-owned or directly owned by the order of the tribunal the Māori can pass over.
The internal process of the tribunal differs significantly in some points from the normal process in the Anglo-American legal system. However, it has sole authority over the interpretation of the Waitangi Treaty, both in its English and Māori versions.
The tribunal can conduct its own inquiries and does not have to rely solely on the facts presented to it by the parties involved. Likewise, it can interpret its own rules very flexibly and adapt them to the case at hand depending on the situation and also fall back on Māori legal traditions.