Borrin Foundation – Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga summer legal research internships

About the project
The annual Borrin Foundation-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) Summer Legal Research Internship Awards will enable two Māori tertiary students to research legal issues of relevance to Māori. The purpose of the internship programme is to promote Māori legal scholarship. The internships strongly connect legal research with legal practice. Each intern is supervised by a Māori academic in the NPM network of scholars and a practicing Māori lawyer from Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society).
The inaugural interns are:
· Te Puea Matoe (Te Roroa), LLB student at AUT
Te Puea is researching the provision of cultural information in the sentencing process, including the use of speakers and reports (pursuant to s27 of the Sentencing Act 2002), and how this can fit within sentencing principles and practices. The research includes a comparative analysis of law and practice in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Te Puea is supervised by Khylee Quince (Ngapuhi, Ngāti Porou), Associate Head of School at AUT Law School, whose research interests include criminal law, youth justice and Māori legal issues.
· Natanahira Herewini (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngai Takoto, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi, Te Aupouri), LLB/BA student at the University of Auckland
Natanahira is researching how Māori mothers are over-represented among parents charged and convicted of negligent parenting practices in Aotearoa. Natanahira’s research focus is on Māori understandings of who within communities raises children and how. The findings will contribute to a mātauranga Māori-centred critique of the prosecutions and convictions.
Natanahira is supervised by Dr Fleur Te Aho (Ngāti Mutunga ki Taranaki), lecturer at the University of Auckland, whose research interests include criminal law and indigenous legal issues. Natanahira is mentored by Kingi Snelgar (Ngā Puhi, Te Whakatohea, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāi Tahu), a criminal defence lawyer.
Grant amount
Each internship is valued at $6500, including a $5500 stipend to the intern, plus $1000 for professional development, conference travel or other internship-related costs.
Grant to Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga is $39,000 over three years, providing six internships in total.
About Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) is New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE). It is hosted at the University of Auckland and is comprised of 21 research partners (collaborating research entities), a network of more than 180 Māori researchers conducting research of relevance to Māori communities.
NPM’s vision is Māori leading New Zealand into the future. The research realises Māori aspirations for positive engagement in national life, enhances excellence in indigenous scholarship, and provides solutions to major challenges facing humanity in local and global settings. NPM is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission.
Visit: http://www.maramatanga.co.nz/
Contact
Professor Jacinta Ruru, Co-Director, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence
“We are incredibly excited to partner with the Borrin Foundation to create a new and prestigious ongoing opportunity to positively increase relevant Māori legal scholarship for the benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand.”