The book came out at a time when understanding the application of Treaty principles in context is critical
The Legal Research Foundation’s JF Northey Memorial Book Award has named Treaty Law: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in Law and Practice as the Best Legal Book Published in 2023.
The book was commissioned in 2019, conceptualised in response to the desire to put together a textbook that tackled the jurisprudence of Treaty principles on a broad scale. The New Zealand Law Foundation lent support in research funding to authors Kevin Hille, Carwyn Jones and Damen Ward, who analysed more than 600 judicial decisions that delved into various legal subject areas, including animal law, bankruptcy and insolvency, and trusts and water law.
According to publisher Thomson Reuters, the book came out at a time “where knowledge and understanding of how the principles of the Treaty are applied in context could not be more important”. Adjudicators described the book as “a well-researched and well-presented exposition of the development of treaty jurisprudence and case-law over the last 40 years”.
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“This book is also essential reading for those who seek to debate the place of Te Tiriti and its principles. For that to be done sensibly and effectively we first need to correctly understand their place in our current law”, adjudicators said.
Hille is an Indigenous rights lawyer who served as counsel for the Treaty of Waitangi team at the Crown Law Office. He has appeared before the Waitangi Tribunal, and is presently a partner at Canadian firm Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP.
Jones is Kaihautū of Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga and teaches in the Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) programme at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. He is also an adjunct professor in Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington’s Te Kawa a Māui (the School of Māori Studies).
Ward is a senior Crown counsel at the Treaty of Waitangi team at the Crown Law Office. He has acted as counsel in Crown-Māori matters that went before the High Court, the appellate courts, and the Waitangi Tribunal.