Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975

5: Functions of Tribunal

You could also call this:

"What the Waitangi Tribunal does to help with important Māori issues and claims."

The Tribunal has some jobs to do. You can think of the Tribunal like a group that helps make decisions about important issues. The Tribunal's jobs include looking into claims that are sent to them under section 6 and making recommendations about them.

The Tribunal also makes recommendations about land and interests in land, like whether some land should still be subject to rules under the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 or the Education and Training Act 2020.

When the Tribunal is doing its jobs, it thinks about the two versions of the Treaty of Waitangi, which are set out in Schedule 1. The Tribunal is the only group that can decide what the Treaty means and how it should be applied.

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This page was last updated on 26 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM435510.

Topics:

Māori affairs > Treaty of Waitangi

4B: Appointment of Judge not to affect tenure, etc, or

"Being on the Tribunal doesn't change a Judge's job or benefits"

6: Jurisdiction of Tribunal to consider claims, or

"The Tribunal can help Māori with unfair claims about the Treaty of Waitangi"

5Functions of Tribunal

The functions of the Tribunal shall be—
to inquire into and make recommendations upon, in accordance with this Act, any claim submitted to the Tribunal under section 6:
to make recommendations, in accordance with section 8D, that land or interests in land be no longer subject to resumption under section 27B of the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 or section 569 of the Education and Training Act 2020:
to make any recommendation or determination that the Tribunal is required or empowered to make under Schedule 1 of the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989:
to make recommendations in accordance with section 8HE that land, or any part of any land, that is subject to a Crown forestry licence under the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989, be no longer liable to be returned to Maori ownership under section 36 of that Act:
to make recommendations in accordance with section 8D (as applied by section 8HJ) that land or any interest in land that, immediately before being vested in a Crown transferee company pursuant to section 6 of the New Zealand Railways Corporation Restructuring Act 1990, was land owned by the Crown or an interest owned by the Crown in land, be no longer subject to resumption under section 39 of that Act:
to examine and report on, in accordance with section 8, any proposed legislation referred to the Tribunal under that section.

In exercising any of its functions under this section the Tribunal shall have regard to the 2 texts of the Treaty set out in Schedule 1 and, for the purposes of this Act, shall have exclusive authority to determine the meaning and effect of the Treaty as embodied in the 2 texts and to decide issues raised by the differences between them.

Notes

Section 5(1)(a): replaced (with effect on 9 December 1987), on 30 June 1988, by section 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi (State Enterprises) Act 1988 (1988 No 105).
Section 5(1)(aa): replaced (with effect on 9 December 1987), on 30 June 1988, by section 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi (State Enterprises) Act 1988 (1988 No 105).
Section 5(1)(aa): amended, on 1 August 2020, by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).
Section 5(1)(aa): amended, on 23 July 1990, by section 50(1) of the Education Amendment Act 1990 (1990 No 60).
Section 5(1)(ab): inserted, on 25 October 1989, by section 39 of the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989 (1989 No 99).
Section 5(1)(ac): inserted, on 25 October 1989, by section 39 of the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989 (1989 No 99).
Section 5(1)(ad): inserted, on 28 August 1990, by section 42 of the New Zealand Railways Corporation Restructuring Act 1990 (1990 No 105).