Barrister Kingi Snelgar believes the application of tikanga Māori in the Peter Ellis case was critical in the quashing of all charges against him.
Kingi was discussing the case with law professor Claire Charters and presenter Moana Maniapoto on Te Ao with Moana about the significance of the decision.
On Friday the Supreme Court quashed all remaining charges against creche worker Peter Ellis. The Christchurch civic creche worker, convicted of child abuse in the 1990s, had been jailed for seven years, and spent the remainder of his life trying to clear his name.
In 2019 at the age of 61, Peter Ellis died of cancer and months later the Supreme Court granted an appeal by his lawyers who argued his mana lasted after he died.
Last week, the court ruled there had been a gross miscarriage of justice and said tikanga Māori applied in this case.
Snelgar said New Zealand had a really progressive Supreme Court at the moment, allowing the exploration of tikanga to be applied to common law.
;Key factor'
“The court says that tikanga wasn’t determinative. The reality is it was a key factor in the way the decision went.”
Charters said tikanga had been discussed at length and was determinative in past cases and tikanga was being rigorously applied in common law more often.
“In ways, it really establishes particularly that tikanga Māori is a separate legal system with its own authority and its own right, separate from the state legal system.”
Snelgar said the future discussions of tikanga, what parts of tikanga were used and its implementation of tikanga were vitally important to Māori.
“Protecting the mana motuhake, the integrity of tikanga; are we leaving it largely to Pākehā judges what our culture is? That’s not good for any of us. It’s a delicate path and it’s really complex.”