Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 6, 2023 8:16:49 GMT 12
TIKANGA IS NOT LAW – Gary Judd KC.
The point is simply this: tikanga is not law because beliefs as such cannot be law. They can only be a purported justification for laws compelling action or forbidding action. For example, belief that homosexual acts between consenting adults are immoral and sinful produced laws prohibiting such acts and prescribing punishments for anyone committing such acts. I have already mentioned the heresy laws, as another example.
Beliefs, even if common to the entire population, are not law. However, beliefs may cause people to act in a certain way. Those actions may become customary and may even mature into customary law.
Where tikanga beliefs have been acted on, they may have given rise to customary behaviour and those customs might have matured into a species of customary law applicable for specific purposes, for example for determining who owns Māori land, but the Supreme Court went way beyond that by declaring that tikanga was first law.
Calling tikanga something which patently it is not, not only offends reason but undermines the value of what it actually is. Making a falsehood a fundamental part of the description of its nature is not a good way to ensure its survival. I suspect this will become apparent in the fullness of time.....
www.nzcpr.com/tikanga-is-not-law/
The point is simply this: tikanga is not law because beliefs as such cannot be law. They can only be a purported justification for laws compelling action or forbidding action. For example, belief that homosexual acts between consenting adults are immoral and sinful produced laws prohibiting such acts and prescribing punishments for anyone committing such acts. I have already mentioned the heresy laws, as another example.
Beliefs, even if common to the entire population, are not law. However, beliefs may cause people to act in a certain way. Those actions may become customary and may even mature into customary law.
Where tikanga beliefs have been acted on, they may have given rise to customary behaviour and those customs might have matured into a species of customary law applicable for specific purposes, for example for determining who owns Māori land, but the Supreme Court went way beyond that by declaring that tikanga was first law.
Calling tikanga something which patently it is not, not only offends reason but undermines the value of what it actually is. Making a falsehood a fundamental part of the description of its nature is not a good way to ensure its survival. I suspect this will become apparent in the fullness of time.....
www.nzcpr.com/tikanga-is-not-law/