The NZ Herald reports that a Maori turst, Northland based Te Kati, is threatening to take the UK Government to the International Court of Justice to attempt to get Maori the same rights as British citizens under the Treaty of Waitangi. They are wanting British passports, claiming that article 3 of the Treaty gives them that right.

Article 3 of course gives Maori the same rights as British subjects. Mr Wilkie, the trust representative, is now writing to the Queen to lodge a format complaint and urge her to ensure that the British Government honours the Treaty. He has said:

This is a novel claim, but a complete waste of time.

There are a number of factors that really should result in this claim being dumped immediately.

1. As the Herald has pointed out, the British Nationality Act 1948 superseded the Treaty and did away with article 3 rights.
2. The NZ Government has been considered to have taken over from the British Government as party to the treaty - if not in statute, then definitely in case law and in practice (otherwise why are Treaty settlements paid by the NZ Government?).
3. While the Governor-General signs legislation on behalf of the Queen, it is in the Queen's role as Queen of New Zealand, not as Queen of the United Kingdom. They are separate Crowns - they just happen to be worn by the same person.
4. Article 3 was special in that the British generally did not offer citizenship to the natives of their new territories. The point was that Maori would be treated the same as everyone else coming to live in New Zealand, who at the time were all British Citizens. However, the equivalent now is New Zealand Citizenship, which Maori of course have.
5. The Treaty is not part of the supreme law of the UK (since they operate under Parliamentary Sovereignty, they don't really have any supreme law), and so consequently can be overridden by statute. Given the British Nationality Act mentioned above, it no longer has any effect.

So it is doomed to failure. The Queen will of course act on the letter on the advice of her responsible ministers. They have already (unsurprisingly) rejected it.

But it is a novel attempt...

Posted by Dave Bryant at 5:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)