Review of Kevin Hille, Carwyn Jones & Damen Ward, Treaty Law: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in Law and Practice (Thomson Reuters, 2023)

• Author: Martin Fisher
• Position: Senior Lecturer, Ngai Tahu Research Centre, University of Canterbury
• Pages: 197-205

197

BOOK REVIEW:

Review of Kevin Hille, Carwyn Jones &

Damen Ward, Treaty Law: Principles of the

Treaty of Waitangi in Law and Practice

(Thomson Reuters, 2023)

Reviewed by Martin Fisher*

At a time of heigh tened race relat ions in Aotear oa New Zealand , Treaty pr inciples

have occasionally taken centre stage in this Coalition Government’s seemingly

endless attacks on te ao Māori and Tirit i o Waitan gi | Treat y of Waitang i issue s

generally. Wit h the draft Tr eaty Principles Bi ll slowly taki ng shape, there ca n be no

understat ing the timel iness of Kevin Hil le, Carwyn Jones a nd Damen Ward’s Trea ty

Law: Princ iples of the Treaty of Waitangi in Law a nd Practice. Using over 60 0 judicial

decisions, with an understandable reliance and emphasis on some fundamental

cases of ten involvin g the New Zea land Māori Cou ncil (NZMC), the authors have se t

out to show how the Cou rts have inter preted and appl ied the principles of t he Treaty

of Waitan gi. Trea ty La w was publi shed only just af ter the Coalit ion Government was

formed and acts as a probably largely unintended but systematic riposte to those

who feign ignor ance and conf usion about Treat y principles. The auth ors have sought

to provide as l ittle analysi s as possible, settin g out to function more as a referenc e

tool and a beginner’s guide to further research on the law and Treaty principles.

Kevin Hille admit s that as a rst edition it is “by its nature incomplete”,1 but it is an

incredibl y valuable and powerfu l base from which to f urther build on t his vital a nd

import ant kaupapa. I applaud the a uthors for taki ng this rst s tep for us all.

Kevin Hi lle is cur rently an i ndigenous ri ghts law yer in Canada i n private pr actice,

but previously worke d as Counsel in the Tr eaty of Waitang i team at the Crown L aw

Oce (CLO). Da men Ward is a Senior Crown Counsel in the T reaty of Waita ngi

team at the CLO. For a time, Ward was also an academic and has published quite

extensively on legal and historical topics in New Zealand and around the British

Empire. Car wyn Jones (Ngāti Kahu ngunu) is Kaihaut ū of Te Wha re Whakatupu

Mātaura nga and te aches in the A hunga Tik anga (Māori L aws and Philo sophy)

Progra mme at Te W ānanga o Raukawa. Jones was for merly an As sociate Professor

in the Faculty of Law and remains s till an Honorary Adjunct Professor in Te Kawa

1 Kevin Hi lle, Carwy n Jones and Damen Ward Treaty Law: Prin ciples of the Treaty of Waitangi in

Law and Practi ce (Thomson Reut ers, London, 2023) at v i.

* Senior Lec turer, Ngāi Ta hu Research Cen tre, Universit y of Canterbu ry.