Justice Department presentation at Kent Hall

The new Secretary of Justice is certainly bringing new life to the Ministry with his new initiative of holding workshops to explain the mysteries of land court applications.
The first meeting held in Kent Hall on Monday evening attracted an almost full house with many arriving early to secure their seats at the session about applications for succession and applications for occupation rights.
Steps for filling in an application for succession are: 1. Obtain an original of the death certificate of the person you are succeeding to; 2: supply a list of the lands involved; 3) produce a genealogy (preferably in vertical form) which shows your relationship to that person.
After completing all 3 initial steps, the Court staff will be able to assist you with filling out the rest of your application details.
Fees are payable for filing ($10), advertising ($15), order and sealing ($15), checking ($10), and registration fee ($6). The first 5 lands are $10 and each additional land will cost $2 more.
Occupation rights for a house, crops, or business are a different process as follows: 1) obtain a new map of the requested area (from the Ministry of Infrastructure or one of the private surveyors), 2) obtain an updated copy of the Register of Titles for the said lands; and 3) call a meeting of the landowners (including reps or powers of attorney for absentee owners). The chairman must consult the register of title to ensure that those who are voting at the meeting are landowners of the relevant lands; and the secretary is expected to keep accurate notes of the minutes including resolution. If in Maori, the Justice Department would recommend an English translation for the benefit of the English speaking judges of the Court. If the request for occupation right is granted, the landowners must sign the minutes and map. After completing these steps, only then can you bring your application to the Justice Department who can help you fill in the rest of the form for a fee. Applicants must win the support of a simple majority of landowners in order to get their applications through the High Court. The definition of ‘majority’ was the subject of some discussion with the Justice Department saying it is equals 51 votes out of 100. This is different from lease applications where the ‘majority’ depends on the ‘shares’ the family holds in a land (eg 1/7th or 1/6th or whatever).
If an applicant is an overseas resident, and unable to appear in court, they can submit a sworn affidavit but they must obtain a directive from the Ministry of Justice – Land Division as required under the Cook Islands Amendment Act 1946, section 50.
Incidentally, the staff of the Justice Department say they are NOT permitted to take part as chairman or secretary in any such family meetings as it could result in a conflict of interest in any subsequent court proceedings.
The community was very grateful for the initiative taken by the new Secretary of Justice who has the full support of the Minister of Justice, Hon Ioane Kete and who along with Minister Hon Robert Wigmore and CITV, were sponsors of the advertising and advance publicity for the workshops.
The workshops are to make it easier for our Iti Tangata to understand what they need to do to smooth the way for their own applications and how they can help the Justice Department to help them to do so.

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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