About this ebook
The idea that New Zealand’s constitution protects the rights of everyone is a fairytale, says legal scholar Claire Charters (Ngāti Whakaue, Tainui, Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi).
The Crown’s claim to sovereignty, Charters argues, met none of the legal tests that applied in 1840 under tikanga Māori, British law or international law. An illegal claim has produced an illegitimate state, and a constitution in which Parliament, the executive and the courts can each override Māori rights. Sovereignty makes the case for constitutional transformation, and sets out what it could look like.
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About the author
Claire Charters hails from the mighty Rotorua and is from Ngāti Whakaue, Tainui, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whaoa and Ngāti Rehia. She has an LLB (Hons) and BA from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka—the University of Otago, an LLM from New York University and a PhD from Cambridge University.
Claire is a professor at Waipapa Taumata Rau—the University of Auckland, specialising in Indigenous peoples’ rights under international law and constitutional law here and abroad. She has taught and presented the world over, and currently co-directs Te Puna Rangahau o Te Wai Ariki—the New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law.
Claire was a participant in negotiations on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, an advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly, and a board member and Chair of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. She worked in the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section and was Rongomau Taketake—Indigenous Governance Partner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata—the New Zealand Human Rights Commission from 2023 to 2024.
