Practice briefing aims to help lawyers meet professional obligations when tikanga is relevant
The New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa’s new practice briefing discusses the relevance of tikanga Māori in complying with competence and client service obligations under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008.
According to a statement from the NZLS, the practice briefing seeks to offer guidance and practical information for lawyers to effectively engage with tikanga and meet their professional obligations in situations where it is pertinent to their practice.
“It is also a timely resource due to the introduction of tikanga as a required element of legal education,” said Katie Rusbatch, the law society’s chief executive, in the statement.
While the practice briefing can broadly apply to other professional duties, it focuses on practical considerations for lawyers for the purposes of rules 3, 3.1, and 3.9. Specifically, the practice briefing calls for lawyers to:
“An understanding of tikanga may be relevant to the competent provision of legal services,” Rusbatch said.
In the law society’s statement, Rusbatch said that the organisation collaborated with Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa and relevant experts in developing the practice briefing.
Rusbatch accepted that legal professionals could have different perspectives on tikanga’s role in the legal system.
Rusbatch emphasised that the practice briefing did not add new obligations or requirements on lawyers and did not act as a substitute for legal advice or technical expert input.
Rusbatch noted the following factors for tikanga’s relevance to a specific lawyer’s work: the nature of the matter involved, the legal issues, the client, and their instructions.
The NZLS shared that it published the new practice briefing alongside the release of its Māori strategy (Rautaki Māori). This strategy covers the law society’s commitment to respecting Aotearoa New Zealand’s bicultural foundations and meeting the legal profession’s needs.
