| Legislation
Settlement legislation is usually needed to implement a settlement. For example, legislation is needed to ensure the finality of the settlement by removing the ability of the courts and Waitangi Tribunal to re-open the historical claims or the Deed of Settlement. It may also be needed to vest land in the governance entity on behalf of the claimant group if normal administrative land transfer processes would not be appropriate.
Once the legislation to give effect to parts of the settlement has been introduced and referred to a Select Committee (usually the Maori Affairs Select Committee), any one who wishes to do so is able to make a submission to the Select Committee.
The Select Committee may investigate any aspect of the settlement, including the process by which it was arrived at. However, apart from purely technical changes, for example to ensure that the legislation properly reflects the Deed of Settlement, it must approve the legislation as a whole, or not at all.
Once the Select Committee has reported back to Parliament on the submissions, the Bill is then passed through its final stages and signed by the Governor-General. Once signed, the legislation then allows the settlement assets to be transferred to the governance entity on behalf of the claimant group and the group can begin to make use of the cultural redress provided in the settlement.
Click here to view examples of Legislation.
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