Parliament rules against compulsory inclusion of tikanga in core law degree subjects

Neil Sands

Parliament has passed a motion disallowing secondary legislation that would have forced New Zealand’s law schools to make tikanga Māori a compulsory component of all core subjects required for  legal degrees.

The motion, submitted by National MP Joseph Mooney, stemmed from barrister Gary Judd KC’s complaint in April 2024 to the Regulations Review Select Committee about a move by the New Zealand Council of Legal Education (NZCLE) to make tikanga a compulsory standalone component of the degree.

The select committee found last month that while tikanga could be included as a standalone core subject, NZCLE overstepped by ruling it must also be included in every other compulsory subject studied for a law degree.

New Zealand’s law school have largely opted to embed tikanga into most legal subjects anyway, but Mooney noted that it would no longer be compulsory.

“I would note that real care needs to be taken in the education of tikanga, because tikanga is very personal to whānau, hapū and iwi, who rightly do not want to risk [giving] control over their own traditions and the custody and development of their own tikanga to law schools, the judiciary, or Parliament,” Mooney said.

“My motion of disallowance respects those relations and leaves it to the discretion of law schools to teach tikanga how and where they deem it appropriate to do so but no longer makes it a compulsory requirement in other compulsory law subjects.”