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A senior King\u2019s Counsel has filed a complaint to the\xa0Government\u2019s\xa0Regulations Review Committee over incoming compulsory\xa0tikanga\xa0M\u0101ori studies for law students.\xa0 \xa0

Gary Judd KC told the\xa0Herald\xa0he did so because up until now the curriculum for lawyers has been made up of what he described as \u201cproper law subjects\u201d, such as criminal law and the law of torts.\xa0

\u201cTikanga is a system of beliefs, a system which indicates the way the M\u0101ori people who subscribe to tikanga consider is the right way of doing things. So it is quite different,\u201d Judd said.\xa0

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters also weighed into the debate by supporting Judd\u2019s complaint in a statement and social media post.\xa0

\u201cTikanga is not law. It is cultural indoctrination,\u201d Peters said.\xa0

\u201cLaw students should not be force-fed this kind of woke indoctrination from some culture warrior\u2019s slanted version of what tikanga means.\u201d\xa0

But emeritus professor of law at University of Auckland Jane Kelsey told the\xa0Herald\xa0she disagrees with Judd\u2019s complaint, saying New Zealand is lucky to have a curriculum which reflects the country\u2019s history.\xa0

\u201cMr Judd is about the same vintage as me. The Treaty warranted one class in my entire law degree, and that was the English version. Thankfully, we now have a more informed curriculum that reflects our history, colonial and M\u0101ori, which has fed through into a more informed jurisprudence,\u201d Kelsey said.\xa0

Kelsey said she found students embraced learning about the M\u0101ori ethical and spiritual relationships encompassed in tikanga and it provided valuable perspective.\xa0

\u201cI found my students embraced the richness of that approach. It is now reflected in our courts as well, recognising that tikanga is not just another system of law but one that Te Tiriti said would continue to operate alongside the common law.\u201d\xa0

Te Herenga Waka \u2013 Victoria University of Wellington describes tikanga as M\u0101ori customary practices or behaviours.\xa0

\u201cThe concept is derived from the M\u0101ori word \u2018tika\u2019 which means \u2018right\u2019 or \u2018correct\u2019 so, in M\u0101ori terms, to act in accordance with tikanga is to behave in a way that is culturally proper or appropriate,\u201d the university states.\xa0

Yet in Judd\u2019s complaint, he argued the new requirement was \u201csymptomatic of a dangerous trend\u201d where those with the power to do so seek to impose the beliefs and values of one section of society upon the community as a whole.\xa0

\u201cThey do so in this instance by pretending that tikanga is law and therefore it is fitting to compel law students to learn about it,\u201d he wrote.\xa0

Judd felt it was inappropriate for the New Zealand Council of Legal Education to compel all law students to engage in something which he said was not law at all.\xa0

He told Mike Hosking that he believes a small group of people imposing their beliefs on the population are responsible.\xa0

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