Te Ture Whenua Māori Amendment Act 2011

The Te Ture Whenua Māori Amendment Act 2011 has made minor technical changes to Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 and the Māori Incorporations Constitution Regulations 1994 to improve the administration of these Acts. These are as follows.

• section 268(3) of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 has been amended to clarify Māori incorporations’ powers of constitutional amendment under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993;
• regulation 2 and Rule 4(1)(h) of Schedule 1 to the Māori Incorporations Constitution Regulations 1994 have been updated to include a reference to Māori incorporations’ powers of constitutional amendments under section 268(3);
• the Māori Land Court has been granted the discretion to award interest for the recovery of debt or damages in the same manner as the District Court;
• section 81(2) of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 has been amended to state that Māori Land Court orders for the payment of money are enforceable as if they had been made in the District Court. This allows for Māori Land Court orders to be transmitted to the High Court for enforcement;
• sections 106(1) and (2) of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 which restrict the right to bequeath and inherit interests in Māori freehold land have been reworded to improve their readability; and
• sections150A-150C of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 have been amended to clarify the forms of alienation of Māori freehold land for which copies must be sent to a Registrar of the Māori Land Court for noting.