New Zealand Law Society - Te Reo Māori resources

Te Reo Māori resources

The Law Society has developed resources to support any lawyer wishing to speak Te Reo in court. We have worked with lawyer and Te Reo Māori advocate Alana Thomas and the Māori professional services consultancy Haemata to develop a list of resources.

Here you will find a poster and some flash cards to print out with common phrases used during court proceedings. There is also an audio version of each phrase to help with pronunciation.

A4 Poster

Digital poster featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom with embedded clickable sound files. To play the sound, open the poster in Adobe Acrobat.

Printable poster featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom ready for printing and placing around the office.

A6 Quick Reference Card

Printable reference card featuring all 11 common phrases for the courtroom ready for printing for easy reference while in court. To play the sound, open the card in Adobe Acrobat.

A6 Flash Cards

Eleven digital flash cards each featuring one common phrase for the courtroom with embedded clickable sound files. To play the sound, open the card in Adobe Acrobat.

Eleven flash cards each featuring one common phrase for the courtroom laid out ready for printing on A4.

How to say in Te Reo

Click through the Te Reo Māori phrases for the courtroom to hear how to pronounce them.

I am accompanied by my learned junior...

I seek Your Honour's leave to be excused...

May it please the Court...

May it please Your Honour...

No further questions at this time...

That completes the case for...

The Court must first be satisfied that...

Those are counsel's submissions...

For more on Māori language and protocol that can be used in different professional and Court settings pick up a copy of Kia Kākano Rua te Ture by Alana Thomas and Corin Merrick, published by Lexis Nexis.

Court Announcements in Te Reo

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori Komiti and Te Kura Kaiwhakakawā (Institute of Judicial Studies) have in collaboration produced the following series of short videos. It is an excellent resource encouraging the use of Te Reo Māori in our courtrooms.

The purpose of these videos is to support and spread knowledge on the use of Te Reo Māori in the courtroom.

The videos provide examples of Te Reo use in the courts for: the opening of court, karakia, mihi, responses from counsel, adjournments, waiata and the closing of court.

Click the closed caption button (CC) in the Youtube window to view subtitles.

Te Kōti Matua (High Court)

Te Kōti ā Rohe (District Court)

Te Kooti Whenua Māori (Māori Land Court)

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