Open AccessHealing the Past: A Comparative Analysis of the Waitangi Tribunal and the South African Land Claims System
Author(s) -
Liesle Theron
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
victoria university of wellington law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1179-3082
pISSN - 1171-042X
DOI - 10.26686/vuwlr.v28i2.6071
Subject(s) - tribunal , restitution , commission , indigenous , land rights , political science , project commissioning , politics , publishing , law , geography , environmental planning , ecology , biology
Land is of great social and economic importance in both New Zealand and South African society. The large scale dispossession of the indigenous people in both countries has had drastic consequences for them. The attempts that are being made to address these grievances, and thereby reverse the effects of past injustices, reflect the current political situation in each country. This article is concerned with claims for restitution and the institutions designed to facilitate them - the Waitangi Tribunal and the South African Land Claims Commission and Land Claims Court - and investigates which aspects of such mechanisms are effective and what lessons they have to offer.