Nu Tireni · Evidence Series · Part 22 · 1987

The 1987 Lands case: when did the Court say Crown sovereignty was authoritatively established?

The Court of Appeal revitalised Treaty principles while simultaneously treating Hobson's proclamations, Crown approval and the 2 October 1840 Gazette notice as the authoritative establishment of Crown sovereignty.

Authoritative constitutional fact

New Zealand Māori Council v Attorney-General — the 1987 Lands case — transformed the modern legal significance of Treaty principles. But it did so within, not outside, the established Crown constitutional order.

Richardson J stated that it was widely accepted as a matter of colonial and international law that Hobson's May proclamations, their approval by the Crown, and the gazetting of the acquisition in the London Gazette on 2 October 1840 authoritatively established Crown sovereignty over New Zealand.

At the same time, the Court gave real legal force to Treaty principles because section 9 of the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 expressly prohibited the Crown from acting inconsistently with those principles.

Somers J also made the orthodox boundary clear: neither the Treaty nor its principles, standing alone, restrain Parliament's legislative supremacy. The statutory reference was what gave the Court jurisdiction to enforce the Treaty principles in that case.

This makes the Lands case pivotal for our inquiry. It recognises partnership, protection and rangatiratanga while retaining the Crown's sovereign governmental authority as the settled constitutional frame.

Modern Treaty jurisprudence was built inside the sovereignty settlement recognised by the courts, not as a judicial reopening of the acquisition itself.

Primary, judicial and official sources

New Zealand Māori Council v Attorney-General 1987 — judgment copy ↗

New Zealand Parliament / official constitutional research — sovereignty chronology ↗

Waitangi Tribunal — Stage 1 finding on what Te Raki signatories agreed ↗