Māori Land Court judge should have recused himself over Lake Horowhenua ruling, court rules
Sunday, 16 September 2018
A Māori Land Court judge failed to recuse himself over a Lake Horowhenua ruling he had a conflict of interest in.
Judge Michael Doogan should have declared a conflict of interest in appointing trustees to the Lake Horowhenua Trust in 2016, the Māori Appellate Court ruled on Wednesday.
Activist Philip Taueki, who has long fought authorities over his ancestral rights and care of the polluted lake, filed the appeal and was self-represented at the hearing.
The trust, created by the Māori Land Court to administer Lake Horowhenua for the benefit of the Muaūpoko iwi, has been stripped of appointees by the ruling.
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Doogan appointed 11 trustees to the Lake Horowhenua Trust in 2016, declining to consider objections of Taueki and two others.
The judge had formerly acted for the Muaūpoko Tribal Authority, which a number of the appointed trustees were involved with.
Trust chair Matthew Sword had also been Doogan's instructing solicitor.
The judge, Matthew Sword, and members of the authority knew of the prior professional relationship, while Taueki and others with objections did not, the appellate court found.
'A judge's appointment of trustees is not merely a rubber-stamping exercise … Judge Doogan should have recused himself from sitting,' the court ruled.
A re-hearing of Taueki and others' objections to the appointment was ordered, and trustees removed from the board in the meantime.
Leadership of another lake authority, the Horowhenua Lake Domain Board, was also in question.
Minister Eugenie Sage is yet to appoint new members to the board, after missing a deadline earlier this year, as iwi have not yet agreed on who is to be nominated.
Taueki, a direct descendant of a Muaūpoko chief who signed the Treaty of Waitangi, lives on the domain grounds and says authorities have failed to protect the lake and its shoreline from damage.
The victory in court is the second this year for Taueki. In June, the Crown dropped trespass charges against him that had been pursued for three years.
In August, Taueki shut road access to Lake Horowhenua after boy racers tore up the turf.