- Title
- The three precedents of Wi Parata
- Creator
- Tate, John William
- Relation
- Canterbury Law Review Vol. 10, Issue 2, p. 273-308
- Relation
- http://www.laws.canterbury.ac.nz/clr/clrindex.shtml
- Publisher
- University of Canterbury, School of Law
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2004
- Description
- In the recent decision of Attorney-General v Ngati Apa, the Court of Appeal once again reflected on the legal status of native title in New Zealand, drawing on the precendents of previous New Zealand courts stretching back to 1847. However, one of these precedents came in for particular attention. This was the New Zealand Supreme Court decision in Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington, delivered in 1877. The Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal, Elias CJ, in delivering her judgement in Ngati Apa, strongly criticised the Wi Parata judgement, arguing that the Re the Ninety-Mile Beach decision, on which the High Court had relied in its Ngata Apa ruling, was 'wrong in law' precisely because of its dependence on what the Chief Justice called the 'discredited authority' of Wi Parata. It was primarily on this basis, therefore, that Elias CJ felt justified in overturning the High Court's Ngati Apa ruling. Hence, even today Wi Parata continues to cast a long shadow over New Zealand judicial determinations on native title. It is the continuing significance of this judgement that warrants taking a closer look at it.
- Subject
- native title; New Zealand Supreme Court; court of appeal
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/34756
- Identifier
- uon:3686
- Identifier
- ISSN:0112-0581
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
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