Māori Law Stories

About this research

This internship project involves preliminary research for a book proposal on "Māori Law Stories". The book will aim to tell the stories behind a number of historical and contemporary legal cases involving Māori. This is in the tradition of the field of "legal archaeology" - digging up the forgotten or untold aspects of legal cases - who the people were, the reasons for bringing a case, and what happened afterwards. The intern will conduct a literature review of similar books, articles or projects from other common law jurisdictions; and undertake preliminary research into cases that might be suitable for analysis - including possible sources of information for further research into the people, places and aftermath relating to the case. This would include finding relevant historical archives or databases, Parliamentary debates, media databases/reports etc. This project and the eventual publication of a "Māori Legal Stories" book, will be a unique contribution to both Māori and legal scholarship in Aotearoa. Providing Māori perspectives of seminal legal cases in our history serves to share our knowledge and view of the law and legal processes. This will involve an examination and comparison of Māori and non- Māori views of the aims and objectives of legal action.