page_title: Law of New Zealand
section_title: Court system
hierarchical_section_title: Law of New Zealand / History / Court system
caption_attribution_description: English: High Court Building, 22-24 Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland, New Zealand. It was build from the British-born architect Edward Rumsey in 1865-1868 for the Supreme Court in New Zealand.
context_page_description: The law of New Zealand has its foundation in the English common law system, inherited from being a part of the Commonwealth. There are several sources of law, the primary ones being statutes enacted by the New Zealand Parliament and case law made by decisions of the courts of New Zealand. At a more fundamental level, the law of New Zealand is based on three related principles: parliamentary sovereignty; the rule of law; and the separation of powers.
context_section_description: A Supreme Court was first established in 1841 (it was renamed the High Court in 1980, and is different to the current Supreme Court), and various lower courts subsequently established. Its establishment followed the arrival in New Zealand of the first chief justice, William Martin, and it heard its first case in January 1842. The magistrates' courts came into being in 1846 (replaced by district courts in 1980). The Court of Appeal was set up in 1862 and originally consisted of panels of judges from the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal was the highest court in New Zealand, although appeals could be taken from this to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. In 1957 the Court of Appeal was reconstituted to become separate from the Supreme Court, having its own judges. In 2004 a new Supreme Court was established, becoming New Zealand's court of last resort following the simultaneous abolition of the right to appeal to the Privy Council.
  In 1865 a Native Land Court was established to "define the land rights of Māori people under Māori custom and to translate those rights or customary titles into land titles recognisable under European law". It has since been heavily criticised for acting as a device for removing Māori from their land. Some of the problems were with the court itself – holding proceedings in English and in cities far from Māori settlements, judges with inadequate knowledge of Māori custom – while others were more to do with the laws it enforced. For example, for many decades land law did not recognise that an entire hapu owned its land, and land ownership was put in the hands of a few people. In 1954 it was renamed the Māori Land Court, and has been substantially reformed since the nineteenth century. Until the mid-twentieth century it also dealt with Māori adoptions.
  The New Zealand judiciary have generally been seen as independent and non-corrupt, although not always non-biased. Until recent years they have played a very minor role in developing the law, and as late as 1966 it was said that they "usually follow English decisions scrupulously". In the 1980s the judiciary played a major role in redefining the constitutional position of the Treaty of Waitangi.
caption: Auckland High Court, built in 1865–1868 for the Supreme Court in New Zealand
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