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Recognizing Collective Cultural Property Rights in a Deceased—Clarke v. Takamore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2013

Nin Tomas
Nin Tomas*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The recent New Zealand Supreme Court decision in Clarke v Takamore raises issues about how Maori society views deceased tribal members as belonging to the extended family and tribal group collective. This conflicts with English common law understandings that a closer, legally protected individual relationship exists with an executor, if the decedent has left a will, or with a spouse, if there is no will. This note examines the conflict and suggests a solution that would be fairer to Maori than that unanimously reached by three of New Zealand's general courts.

Type
Case Note
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 333 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2013 

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