The Constitutional Kōrero: Indigenous Futures and New Zealand’s Constitution
About the project
The Constitutional Kōrero is a national hui to be hosted in November 2021 to provide the technical and legal support for constitutional transformation in Aotearoa New Zealand. The conference will bring together experts from around Aotearoa and the world, to offer practical and pragmatic legal advice on options for constitutional transformation, grounded in models for constitutional transformation that were proposed in the 2016 report of Matike Mai Aotearoa. The conference will give Māori, Matike Mai Aotearoa, the wider public and the New Zealand Government opportunities to engage with legal and academic experts on constitutional law and Indigenous rights.
The Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law is working with Matike Mai Aotearoa, Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, the Māori Law Review, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and Tapa Tahi, to convene the conference.
The Constitutional Kōrero is taking place 21 – 23 November 2022. For more information and registration see the Constitutional Kōrero website.
Grant amount
Up to $125,000 for work in 2020 – 2021
About
The Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law was established in 2017 and is a specialist centre hosted at the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland. The work of the Centre is diverse and is driven by Te Tai Haruru – a rōpu of Māori legal academics at Auckland Law School. This work includes significant research, an array of courses, initiatives to promote student engagement in Indigenous issues, expert evidence in cases on Māori and Indigenous rights, relationships with a number of domestic, Pacific and international organisations such as the United Nations, collaborations with other universities and leading international scholars that focus on Indigenous peoples issues and training for judges on legal developments relevant to Māori and Indigenous peoples in advancing their rights legally.
The Centre also established the Indigenous Impact Programme in 2019 with funding from the Borrin Foundation. The programme is a legal education clinic where students gain first-hand experience of working with clients and on law reform and access to justice issues for Māori.
Contacts for the project
Dr Claire Charters (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngā Puhi and Tainui), Co-Director, Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland
Claire Mason, Indigenous Impact Programme Coordinator, Centre Manager and Research Fellow, Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland