Important lessons for trust governance from trusts that benefit New Zealand's Indigenous Maori – Recent developments

Abstract

The landmark New Zealand Court of Appeal decision in New Zealand Maori Council v AttorneyGeneral [1987] 1 NZLR 641[SOE Case] marked a watershed in New Zealand's jurisprudence concerning the relationship between the Government of New Zealand('the Crown') and the indigenous Maori peoples of New Zealand. Very recently , New Zealand's highest Court, the Supreme Court in its decision in New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney-General[2013] 3 NZLR 31 referred to the SOE case as follows: 'The SOE case by the Court of Appeal is a judgment of great authority and importance to the law concerning the relationship between the Crown and Maori" (emphasis added)[S3].