The Auckland University Law Review Symposium

The annual Auckland University Law Review Symposium is an important initiative and Review tradition. It is an opportunity for students, practitioners, academics and the wider public to come together to learn from and engage with an esteemed guest. Justice Whata of the Court of Appeal will present this year’s Symposium.

Date: Wednesday 3 September 2025, 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Stone Lecture Theatre, University of Auckland Law School. (Address: Room 316, Level 3, Building 801, 9 Eden Crescent, Auckland Central. Please note that the venue may change to another university lecture theatre depending on the number of RSVPs.

The AULR Symposium is free and open to all. It can be recorded as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activity.

We very much look forward to seeing you on the night! Please register your attendance by securing a free ticket.

Topic: The Mana of Law

In this speech, Justice Whata will explore the power and authority of the law in a genuinely New Zealand way, by reference to the concept of mana. His central thesis will be that “mana” provides a useful, home-grown lodestar for the rule of law and a mechanism for examining and evaluating whether law’s agents (including Parliament and the courts) are discharging their rule of law responsibilities. Justice Whata will give a brief account of mana as a jural concept within tikanga Māori, that is as power or authority with concomitant responsibility. He will examine some parallels between mana on the one hand and what people have said about the rule of law on the other. In so doing he will engage with some of the leading theories of the rule of law and explain how the mana framework might meet their concerns. He will provide illustrations of the operation of mana within Māori communities and its potential application more generally, including by reference to longstanding rule of law controversies. He will also respond to accounts of the rule of law that conflate the correctness of judicial decision making, or getting the law right, with doing the law in the right or “tika” way. While both bear on the legitimacy of the law, the latter is key to law’s mana.

The Speaker

The Hon Justice Christian Whata, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Tamateatūtahi - Kawiti of Te Arawa, Court of Appeal, Wellington.

Justice Whata was appointed a High Court judge in 2011 based in Christchurch from 2012 until 2015. He was then based in the Auckland High Court until his appointment to the Court of Appeal in August 2025. He has adjudicated on a wide range of subject matters, including major common law, commercial, public, environmental, Māori and criminal matters.

Justice Whata is also a member of the faculty of Te Kura Kaiwhakawā | Institute of Judicial Studies. While in practice, Justice Whata specialised in Māori legal issues and public and environmental law. In 2021 Justice Whata was appointed to Te Aka Matua o te Ture | The New Zealand Law Commission as a Law Commissioner. While there he led the completion of the Study Paper 24, He Poutama, on tikanga Māori.