Judge accepts advice of Maori marae court

Press, 24 July 1984, Page 8

Judge accepts advice of Maori marae court

PA Wanganui A rananga, or house of judgment, sat at a Wanganui marae to consider the case of an elder charged with performing an indecent act on a young girl. The “charge” faced by a man, aged 72, at the rananga was the same charge he faced in the District Court at Wanganui. The rananga, attended by Judge Unwin, imposed a sentence which the Judge yesterday endorsed in court. It was the most severe punishment practicable to impose on the offender, he said. Such rananga should sit more often as they were the best method of dealing with offenders in certain circumstances, Judge Unwin said. The rananga made it plain that its decision was entirely subject to the law as administered by the Court. When Taika Nikorima

appeared for sentence, the Court was filled with relatives, friends, and members of his extended family. Judge Unwin said he welcomed them to his marae — “as you welcomed me to yours, although I do so with less eloquence and grace.” He sentenced Nikorima to 100 hours of community service and put him on probation for 12 months. The community service must be spent passing his special knowledge to his people. He must take any treatment his probation officer directs. At the rananga, which sat at the week-end, Nikorima’s daughters and his sisters publicly expressed the shame they felt at his offence, and this had had a profound effect on Nikorima. “Such a court should sit more often,” Judge Unwin said. “It brings home to all the care and support that is available in such cases.”