Ariana-moe Brown (left), winner of best individual in the National Kaupapa Māori Negotiation Competition and Manawa Te Ahuru-Quinn, who was jointly awarded Best Individual Mooter.
Tauira from Otago’s Te Kaupeka Tātai Ture - Faculty of Law have won both national student competitions at this year’s Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa Hui-ā-Tau (Annual Māori Law Society Conference), held in Whakatāne.
Manawa Te Ahuru-Quinn (Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Rarawa) and Ariana-moe Brown (Rongowhaata, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Maniapoto) represented Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka as members of Te Rōpū Whai Pūtake (Māori Law Students’ Association).
This conference is attended by Māori judges, practitioners, academics and tauira from across the motu. Every year it holds two national Māori law student competitions for finalists from each university.
This is the second time Manawa has attended the conference; she says it was again the highlight of her year.
“We are given the opportunity to whakawhanaungatanga with other tauira from across the motu, mingle amongst judges and rōia, listen to cutting edge kōrero on transformative legal change for Māori and gain insight into what is happening in our courts. I left inspired to enter the legal profession as a Māori.”
Manawa was jointly awarded ‘Best Individual Mooter’ in the National Kaupapa Māori Competition, judged by an eminent bench of Justice Joe Williams of the Supreme Court, Justice Layne Harvey and Justice Kiri Tahana of the High Court, and Awanuiārangi CEO Professor Wiremu Doherty.
A moot is a mock trial where a student, or team of students, represent and argue on opposing sides of a legal issue to a panel of judges, who select a winner.
“Litigation and oral advocacy are my passion, so I was elated to compete in the national final in the first place but being jointly awarded ‘Best Individual Mooter’ was a bonus. I also felt privileged to share the award with a mana wahine from Te Herenga Waka who mooted in te reo Māori,” Manawa says.
Ariana-moe won best individual in the National Kaupapa Māori Negotiation Competition, presided over by Judge Aidan Warren of the Māori Land Court and Lynell Tuffery Huria, a Partner at Kāhui Legal.
In this competition, two teams of three tauira are assigned a client to represent. They are given common facts, and an overview of the dispute and legal issues. Each team also receives confidential facts that provide further information on their client’s interests.
Ariana-moe says what sets this competition apart from more general ones is competitors are likely to be representing the interests of iwi or hapu in resolving disputes over a pertinent issue that affects Māori.
“As Judge Aiden Warren commented, being able to negotiate in the interests of your client is important, especially in the context of working with Māori, as many Māori clients opt to resolve disputes outside of the Courts. Furthermore, negotiation is an everyday phenomenon and is perhaps the bulk of where your time as a practitioner will be, so developing these skills earlier prior to entering practice will improve the quality of your mahi when in practice.”
Ariana-moe says she found working in a team dynamic with different personalities and negotiating styles extremely rewarding and she is honoured to have won the award.
“I found it challenging at first because I had not taken a negotiations paper nor competed in a negotiation competition. However, I soon realised that it was an opportunity to harness my natural abilities and put my lived experience of advocating for my hapū on the table.”
Ariana-moe also received the best team award in the negotiation competition, with teammates Aria Ngarimu from Te Herenga Waka (Māori Law Students’ Association, Victoria University of Wellington), and Lauryn Tokana from Te Aro Ture (Māori Law Students Association, Auckland University of Technology).
Tauira Miricara Kawe and Ollie Gudsell also represented Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and Te Rōpū Whai Pūtake at the conference, joining a panel led by Tā Justice Williams on the future of the law. Discussion included the international unified status of Indigenous peoples, how climate change is going to impact marae communities and the roles of lawyers in this new environment.