When the New Zealand Supreme Court ruled on Wi Parata v the Bishop of Wellington in 1877, the judges infamously dismissed the relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi. During the past 25 years, judges, lawyers, and commentators have castigated this &“simple nullity&” view of the treaty. The infamous case has been seen as symbolic of the neglect of Maori rights by settlers, the government, and New Zealand law. In this book, the Wi Parata case—the protagonists, the origins of the dispute, the years of legal back and forth—is given a fresh look, affording new insights into both Maori-Pakeha relations in the 19th century and the legal position of the treaty. As relevant today as they were at the time of the case ruling, arguments about the place of Indigenous Maori and Pakeha settlers in New Zealand are brought to light.

The essays in this volume reflect the exciting new directions in which legal history in the settler colonies of the British Empire has developed. The contributors show how local life and culture in selected settlements influenced, and was influenced by, the ideology of the rule of law that accompanied the British colonial project. Exploring themes of legal translation, local understandings, judicial biography, and "law at the boundaries," they examine the legal cultures of dominions in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to provide a contextual and comparative account of the "incomplete implementation of the British constitution" in these colonies.

This book examines how, in response to crises, law tends to construct singular ‘events’ that obscure the underlying structural causes that any adequate response needs to acknowledge and address. Litigation is the main legal process that constructs events through a narrative that describes what happened and prescribes what should happen. Courts are theatres with competing stories and intense controversies. The legal event is compelling. But, through the examination of several cases from a range of jurisdictions, this book argues that the ability to construct and reconstruct legal events is so strong, appealing, and powerful that it limits our ability to engage in structural analysis. The difficulty of seeing beyond what is here called ‘the event horizon of legality’ interprets aspects of life as exceptional rather than structural, as it focuses attention on a limited range of possible causes, and so a limited range of possible interventions. So, if issues like famine, obesity, poverty, a rising cost of living, and climate change are even partially produced through non-eventful modalities of power, like colonialism, imperialism, or global capitalism, then, as this book analyzes, the event horizon of legality can only ensure that those issues continue. The book therefore calls for a critical re-evaluation of the role of law in shaping our representation of, and response, to crises; and so, for a rethinking of the power and promise of law. This original analysis of the operation of law will appeal to sociolegal scholars and legal theorists, as well as others working in relevant areas in critical and social theory.

In the last twenty years, there has been a growing interest in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), as scholars and practitioners seek more effective, context-sensitive approaches to conflict. Where formerly conflict was tackled and “resolved” in formal legal settings and with an adversarial spirit, more conciliatory approaches – negotiation, mediation, problem-solving, and arbitration – are now gaining favour. These new methods are proving especially appropriate in intercultural contexts, particularly for Aboriginal land claims, self-government, and community-based disputes. The essays collected here by Catherine Bell and David Kahane provide a balanced view of ADR, exploring its opportunities and effectiveness alongside its challenges and limits. The essays are international in scope, with examples of efforts at dispute resolution involving Inuit and Arctic peoples, Dene, Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en, Tsuu T’ina, Cree, Metis, Navajo, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and Torres Strait Islanders. With contributions from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal theorists and practitioners, Intercultural Dispute Resolution in Aboriginal Contexts presents an array of insightful perspectives. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Aboriginal law and alternative dispute resolution; legal and political theorists; dispute resolution practitioners; and anyone involved in struggles around land claims, treaty, and self-government agreements in Canada or abroad.

This book is a continuation of the prestigious series which is drawn from the papers of the biennial Cambridge Tax Law History Conference. The authors are a mix of academics and senior tax professionals from the judiciary and practice with representatives from 9 countries. The series continues to investigate current tax policy debates in an historical context. The papers fall within 3 basic categories: 1. UK and Irish tax, looking at a variety of topics such as tax administration, cases and judges (Whitney, Singer, Viscount Radcliffe), the taxation of royal forests, the taxation of spirits, and income tax transition in the Irish Free State; 2. International taxation, with chapters on the role of international organisations (OECD, League of Nations) and on South Africa's early attempts to address double taxation (tax treaties); and 3. Non-UK tax systems, including chapters on the legacy of colonial influence (Dutch East Indies), early developments in China, New Zealand, and the USA, an influential Canadian report (Carter Commission), development of the GAAR in Scandanavia, and the receipt of Roman tax law in Europe.