Innovation in Reconciliation - the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998

Settlement of Ngai Tahu's grievances under the Treaty of Waitangi took years of negotiation between Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu and the Crown, and culminated in innovative legislation. The Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 ('the Act') breaks traditional drafting rules with its use of plain English and, to give legal effect to the settlement agreement for the management of natural and physical resources, it includes mechanisms that often cut across, or exclude, other statutory regimes. The Ngai Tahu claim is the largest to date and, although in practice the Act's provisions apply only within Ngai Tahu's claim area, it is the Act's value as a benchmark and precedent that makes it of interest for future claims throughout New Zealand.