LEGISLATION

Te Ao Hou, October 1958, Page 56

LEGISLATION Legislation last year carried one step further the government's efforts to avoid excessive subdivision of already minute interests in Maori land. According to the Maori Affairs Act 1953, the Maori Land Court had discretion to award land interests worth 5/- or less to the exclusion of some beneficiaries. In the Maori Purposes Act 1957 (Clause 3) this limit has been raised from 5/- to £10. This clause empowers the Court, when disposing of an interest to which more than one person is entitled to succeed, to award it to one or only some of the successors, provided that no person thereby gains or loses interests of a value which in the Court's view exceeds £10. If the total value of the interest does not exceed £10, it may be awarded to other owners of the land. * * * The Maori Purposes Act 1957 lays down penalties for non-compliance with the statutory provisions relating to Maori Incorporations. This means that if any officer of a Maori Incorporation violates any statutory rules, he is liable to the same kind of penalty as an officer of a Limited Liability Company.