The Māori Land Court, the Waitangi Tribunal and Historic Cases
Minute books, Wai numbers, nineteenth century judgments and Supreme Court transcripts, under rules 3.5 to 3.8.
This is the material that makes New Zealand citation its own thing. None of it has an Australian counterpart, and the forms do not look like ordinary case citations.
The Māori Land Court
A Māori Land Court decision is identified by its minute book, and the minute book is named twice: once in full with its number, and again as a short citation in brackets (r 3.5.5).
The reason is given in the rule itself. There are many different Chief Judge’s minute books under abbreviations such as CJ, CJTK, CJTA and CJWM, so “Chief Judge’s MB” on its own does not identify anything. The full title finds the book and the short citation finds the page.
Where the application concerns a block of land, the block name joins the case name with an en dash, and both sit inside the italics.
Case name – Block name (year) volume Book MB folio (volume CODE folio).
Two numbering schemes, and three things change together
Most books are numbered by volume. The Māori Appellate Court since 2010, and the Chief Judge’s books, are numbered by year instead.
Getting one of these right and another wrong is the usual mistake, so treat them as a set.
| Numbered by volume | Numbered by year | |
|---|---|---|
| Year brackets | round (2017) | square [2018] |
| Volume number | yes | none |
| Short citation opens with | the volume | the year |
Appellate does not mean year numbered
The pre-2010 district appellate books, Waiariki Appellate, Taitokerau Appellate and Rotorua Appellate, are numbered by volume like the district books they sat beside. Only the Māori Appellate Court book itself switched.
The Waitangi Tribunal
Tribunal reports are not cases and take no neutral citation. r 3.3.3(c) sends them to r 3.6, where the Wai number identifies the inquiry instead.
The Tribunal is named as the author, not italicised. The report title is italicised, in full, including a te reo Māori title where the report carries one.
Waitangi Tribunal Report title (Wai number, year) at pinpoint.
Historic judgments reported in a newspaper
Before law reporting, many judgments survive only in the newspapers. r 3.7.1 cites the judgment first, then the report of it.
Case name Court Location, date reported in Newspaper (Place, date) page.
The Lost Cases Project
The Lost Cases Project has recovered nineteenth century judgments that were never reported. r 3.7.2 cites the case and then the project’s address.
The address is fixed, so Pincite writes it for you rather than letting it be mistyped.
Supreme Court transcripts
There are two eras, split at 2011 (r 3.8). From 2011 a transcript carries a number on its first page that works like a neutral citation. Before that, use the file number form with the word “Transcript”, and the date of the first day of the hearing rather than of judgment.
A hearing that runs over several days is cited once for each day you rely on.
Related Index entries
Māori Land Court decisionMāori Appellate Court decisionWaitangi Tribunal reportHistoric judgment reported in a newspaperCase from the Lost Cases ProjectSupreme Court transcriptLast reviewed 6 August 2026