Indigenising the law degree in Aotearoa New Zealand: opportunities, challenges, and connections to the broader decolonising of tertiary education

This is a guest seminar given by Mihiata Pirini and hosted by the Centre for Innovation and Research in Legal Educaton.

Indigenising the law degree in Aotearoa New Zealand: opportunities, challenges, and connections to the broader decolonising of tertiary education

The law degree of Aotearoa New Zealand increasingly incorporates the teaching of tikanga Māori (Māori customs, practices and traditions), as a source of New Zealand's law. From 2025, tikanga Māori will be a compulsory topic of learning within the New Zealand LLB. This ‘indigenisation’ of the LLB presents enormous opportunities and challenges. This seminar explains what we are doing to meet these opportunities and challenges in the Otago Law Faculty, and considers how our work connects with the broader decolonising of tertiary education. 

Mihiata Pirini is a senior lecturer and part of the teaching team that is leading the indigenisation of the LLB at the University of Otago Faculty of Law. Her research focuses on the legal and constitutional interactions between Māori as the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the New Zealand Crown. Before becoming a lecturer, she provided legal and policy advice at the New Zealand Law Commission and worked as a lawyer for the New Zealand government.

This event is free to attend. To register, please e-mail g.rogers@leeds.ac.uk.