Talk:Waitangi Tribunal
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[edit] Copyright?
Is this copy and pasted from the Waitangi Tribunal website; is that text public domain? Crusadeonilliteracy 13:56, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)
[edit] Concerns around introduction piece
I have concerns around the statements that the Waitangi Tribunal is "empowered to compensate", using the phrase "Māori people" and that the Tribunal makes judgments on "land obtained by fraud or by force".
[edit] empowered to compensate
The Waitangi Tribunal is not empowered to compensate, it is empowered to investigate and make recommendations on a claim by a Māori or a group of Māori that feel they have been prejudiced by laws and regulations or by acts, omissions, policies, or practices of the Crown since 1840 that are inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. See question 11 of the Waitangi Tribunal FAQ for verification.
I suggest that the statement "empowered to compensate" be removed and replaced by "empowered to investigate and make recommendations on claims by".
[edit] Māori people
Standard nomenclature where referring to people of an ethnicity is to use the title of there ethnicity not to add "people" on the end of the statement (i.e. Asian or Asians) not Asian people. Also the a in Māori should have a macron above it.
I suggest that the statement "Maori people" be modified to "a Māori or group of Māori" (as a claim can be made be either a individual or a group).
[edit] land obtained by fraud or by force
Firstly this statement only refers to land, the Waitangi Tribunal looks at all incidents where the Treaty of Waitangi has been infringed, this can be on a range of issues from repression of the Maori language through to treatment of Maori by Governmental forces (see question 4 of Waitangi Tribunal FAQ for verification). As well as this the original statement misses one very important element, the infraction of the Treaty must have been performed by agents of the Crown as the Treaty was only signed between the Crown and Maori.
I suggest that the statement "land obtained by fraud or force" be removed and replaced by "that their rights under the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi have been infringed by actions of the Crown in the period since 1840" Adam 08:09, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Not a court
I made a minor edit to the article because it was contradictory. The introduction called the Tribunal a court, while the body of the article explained how it was a commission of inquiry, not a court, and did not have the powers of a court. As the Tribunal's website confirms, the Tribunal is a commission of inquiry. Kahuroa 10:37, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
