Jacinta Ruru is a Professor of Law at the University of Otago. Her research has focused on exploring Indigenous peoples' legal rights to own, manage and govern land and water including national parks and minerals in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, United States, Australia and the Scandinavia countries.

She has led, or co-led, several national and international research projects including on the Common Law Doctrine of Discovery, Indigenous peoples’ rights to freshwater and multidisciplinary understandings of landscapes and writes for several legal publishers including Adams’ Land Transfer and edit the Brookers Maori Legislation Handbook. 

Raukawa Ngāti Ranginui Ngāti Maniapoto
Co-Director
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
University of Otago

Related Projects

Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

Project commenced:

Oranga Tamariki: new knowledge for evaluating and empowering whānau well-being

 

How will tikanga Māori empower the evaluation of the experience of Māori whānau in crisis to measure the performance of the Government’s new obligations in law to Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Our longterm objective is to bring new evaluative knowledge to empower the mana of whānau in crisis. 

Māori have clearly and consistently stressed that a Māori child’s wellbeing is inherently linked to their place within, and connection to, whānau, hapū and iwi.

Full project

Project commenced:

Ngā Ture o Te Tai Ao - New Laws for the Environment

How can New Zealand’s state legal system recalibrate to challenge the Crown’s assumption of sovereignty over lands and waters treasured by Māori?

Drawing on the research findings of the other Te Tai Ao foundational projects, this project will lead to new laws, policies, plans and models for government and iwi/Māori communities, and will enable Māori to reassert traditional knowledge in governing land, water and resources to better enable flourishing Māori health, wellbeing and prosperity.