New Partnership promotes Māori legal scholarship

New Partnership promotes Māori legal scholarship

Tēnā koutou katoa

The inaugural Borrin Foundation - Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) Summer Legal Research Internship awards were announced at the Supreme Court in Wellington, at yesterday’s launch event for the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation. These internships enable two Māori tertiary students to research legal issues of relevance to Māori.

The purpose of this new internship programme is to promote Māori legal scholarship and it is intended to strongly connect legal research with legal practice. Each intern is supervised by a Māori academic from within NPM’s network of scholars as well as a practicing Māori lawyer from Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society).

The internships are valued at $6500 each, which includes a $5500 stipend plus $1000 for professional development, conference travel, or other internship-related costs.

The inaugural 2017-2018 Borrin Foundation - Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga interns are;
• Te Puea Matoe (Te Roroa) LLB student at Auckland University of Technology
• Natanahira Herewini (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngai Takoto, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi, Te Aupouri) LLB/BA student from the University of Auckland.

Te Puea is supervised by Khylee Quince (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) Associate Head of School at AUT Law School, and is researching the provision of cultural information in the sentencing process, and how this can fit within sentencing principles and practices. Her research includes a comparative analysis of law and practice in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Natanahira is supervised by Dr Fleur Te Aho (Ngāti Mutunga ki Taranaki) from the University of Auckland and is researching how and why Māori mothers are over-represented among parents charged and convicted of negligent parenting practices in Aotearoa. Her research focus is on Māori understandings of who raises children (and how) within communities, and the findings will contribute to a mātauranga Māori-centred critique of the prosecutions and convictions. Natanahira is also mentored by Kingi Snelgar (Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatohea, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāi Tahu), a criminal defence lawyer.

NPM Co-Director Professor Jacinta Ruru from the University of Otago commented that NPM is “incredibly excited to be partnering with the Borrin Foundation to create a new and prestigious ongoing opportunity to positively increase relevant Māori legal scholarship for the benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation Grants and Scholarships Committee Chairperson David Goddard QC commented that “the Borrin Foundation is delighted to be collaborating with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga on these internships for young and talented Māori law students, who will go on to contribute to our shared vision for the country.”

The inaugural interns will be completing their summer projects and submitting their reports over the next two months.

ENDS

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