Auspicious start to inaugural law course
“This is an auspicious day – the first day of the first semester; for some, the first day ever at university; for all of us, the first class of a brand-new course.”
So declared Dean of AUT Law School, Ahorangi Professor Khylee Quince, as she welcomed nearly 300 students at the City and South campuses (as well as several colleagues and special guests) to the inaugural lecture of Laws510, “Tikanga Māori and the Settler State Legal System of Aotearoa”.
Khylee opened the class with Titahi’s chant. Just before Lieutenant James Cook’s arrival, Tītahi, a leader of Ngāti Whātua, prophesied that major change was about to occur in the region of Waitematā Harbour.
The chant was fitting, said Khylee, not just because it foretold significant change, but also because the words are a “legal statement – a statement of citizenship". That whakapapa or connection – to the people and places of the land – is foundational to understanding tikanga in the law.
“Whakapapa is the core legal framework of tikanga; it is relational. Whether Māori or Pākehā in its origins, the law is a way of organising and regulating ourselves – how we undertake dispute resolutions; who we are accountable to; how we access and share natural resources; who we have family obligations to – it is all based on a matrix of relationships,” said Khylee.
Why is the new course so significant? As a law student in the early 90s, Khylee said she and her peers were only taught European or Settler State law: “There was no recognition of any other laws.”
But as of this year, all six law schools in Aotearoa are mandated by the Council of Legal Education to teach Tikanga Māori, the first law of this country.
To help bring to life the importance of tikanga in the law, Khylee offered a sobering example. The Bail Act 2000 regulates the conditions for people who have been charged but not convicted of a crime – whether they will be remanded in custody or bailed to an address deemed suitable by officials.
Currently, Khylee explained, there is no mention of tikanga in the Bail Act. She described a recent case in which a Māori teenager was denied bail to his grandparents’ house. The officer who inspected the home questioned why the teen’s parents did not live at the address, and why there were mattresses strewn across the living room floor.
“Assumptions were made about those living in the whare – that it was risky because the grandparents, not parents, ran the household; and that the slew of mattresses suggested overcrowding and potentially antisocial influences.”
When seen through a tikanga lens, however, the situation looks quite different: many youths feel honoured to be whangai or adopted by their grandparents; and many Māori simply prefer to sleep “marae style” in the living room, rather than in isolation in their own beds.
“Tikanga Māori is not some ancient historical artifact; it is how we regulate ourselves today,” said Khylee. “Aotearoa has a dual whakapapa – two strands of law. This is not about us saying one legal system is better than another. But in recent times, we have begun to understand the need to accommodate the two law systems.”
A number of respected AUT Law School academics will join Khylee in teaching Law 510, including family law expert Associate Professor Alison Cleland. After assuring the students that they had access to a wide range of support throughout their studies, Alison challenged the long-held notion that a law degree is reserved for the privileged few.
“The idea that law is an elite discipline is false – don't let anyone tell you that. Once you have completed your law degree, you will never see the world the same way again.”
Echoing this sentiment, Khylee outlined the kaupapa or ground rules for students on the course: Kia whakaute – be respectful; Kia tupato – take care; Mahia te mahi – do the work; Kaua e mataku – don't be afraid.
“He waka eke noa,” said Khylee. “We are all in this together.”