New Zealand Law Society - Te Reo Māori resources
The Law Society has developed resources to support any lawyer wishing to speak Te Reo in court. We have worked with Te Reo Māori advocate Her Honour Judge Alana Thomas and the Māori professional services consultancy Haemata to develop a list of resources.
Here you will find a poster and some flash cards to print out with common phrases used during court proceedings. There is also an audio version of each phrase to help with pronunciation.
Digital poster featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom with embedded clickable sound files. To play the sound, open the poster in Adobe Acrobat.
Printable poster featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom ready for printing and placing around the office.
Printable reference card featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom ready for printing for easy reference while in court. To play the sound, open the card in Adobe Acrobat.
Eleven digital flash cards each featuring one common phrase for the courtroom with embedded clickable sound files. To play the sound, open the card in Adobe Acrobat.
Eleven flash cards each featuring one common phrase for the courtroom laid out ready for printing on A4.
Click through the Te Reo Māori phrases for the courtroom to hear how to pronounce them.
For more on Māori language and protocol that can be used in different professional and Court settings pick up a copy of Kia Kākano Rua te Ture by Alana Thomas and Corin Merrick, published by Lexis Nexis.
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori Komiti and Te Kura Kaiwhakakawā (Institute of Judicial Studies) have in collaboration produced the following series of short videos. It is an excellent resource encouraging the use of Te Reo Māori in our courtrooms.
The purpose of these videos is to support and spread knowledge on the use of Te Reo Māori in the courtroom.
The videos provide examples of Te Reo use in the courts for: the opening of court, karakia, mihi, responses from counsel, adjournments, waiata and the closing of court.
Click the closed caption button (CC) in the Youtube window to view subtitles.
Test your te reo Māori knowledge and have some fun with this quick legal quiz.
a) The Nelson High Court
b) The Nelson District Court
c) The Blenheim District Court
a) Rambling
b) Too short
c) Boring
d) Perfect
a) Rua tekau
b) Tekau mā rua
c) Rua
a) e tū
b) kanikani
c) e noho
d) matihe
a) Real estate agent
b) Accountant
c) lawyer
d) Professional footballer
a) Your Honour is wise and always correct
b) May it please Your Honour
c) Your Honour, please may we adjourn for lunch
d) I am pleased Your Honour agrees with me
a) I just have a few more questions for the witness
b) No further questions at this time
c) I seek Your Honour’s leave to be excused
d) I have a question for Your Honour
a) I’m all done
b) Those are counsel’s submissions
c) Counsel needs a moment to confer with their client
d) My learned colleague is correct in their submissions
a) I seek Your Honour’s leave to be excused
b) May I please go to the bathroom
c) It’s sunny outside, I think we should adjourn
d) Friday is a good day for golf
a. Your mum
b. Your client
c. The Chief Justice
d. The Court Registrar