Manage your claim
At any point a claim may be amended or withdrawn. An amendment adds to or reduces the issues raised by the claim, or adds more detail relating to the issues. Withdrawing a claim will remove the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to inquire into the claim.
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How your claim is heard
Once your claim is registered, it may participate in one of the Waitangi Tribunal’s current inquiries.
Find out more about our current inquiries
Do I need a lawyer?
Claimants are not required to be represented by a lawyer at Tribunal hearings. However, lawyers are skilled in dealing with the technical legal issues that may arise in an inquiry, in ensuring that evidence is presented effectively, and in managing the large amount of documentation that the claims process often generates. For these reasons, the Tribunal usually prefers both that claimants are legally represented and, where it is appropriate, that claimants arrange joint representation with other claimants.
When claimants appoint a lawyer to represent them, the Tribunal's practice is to treat the lawyer as the address for service for the claim. That means that the Tribunal will send documentation relating to the claim to the claimants' lawyer, who is then responsible for informing her or his clients of the information received.
Find out more about applying for legal aid
Withdraw your claim
A claimant may at any stage withdraw a claim by advising the Registrar in writing that they wish to withdraw it. The Tribunal will issue a memorandum-directions noting that the claim has been withdrawn.
Where the intention is to withdraw only part of a claim, this should be done by filing an amended statement of claim or by advising the registrar in writing of the specific part that is to be withdrawn.
Points to remember
If the claimant withdraws the whole of a claim from the Tribunal’s register of claims, the Tribunal will no longer have the jurisdiction to inquire into the claim. Additionally, the claimants will not be able to file any further historical claims with the Tribunal, due to section 6AA of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, which removes the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to inquire into historical claims filed after 1 September 2008.
Where a claim has more than one named claimant, the Tribunal's standard practice is to require the signature of all named claimants on documents amending, or withdrawing the claim.
However, a lawyer who is representing claimants may file documents with the Tribunal on behalf of her or his clients. Where a lawyer represents claimants, the Tribunal assumes that the lawyer is acting with the authority of those claimants.