Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

Obstacles –
– When I returned to <strong>the</strong> Cook Islands I knew I had land, but I didn’t know my genealogy, or <strong>the</strong>
name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> land, how much land was mine, or who was on it, how to file a succession order,
court and land meeting procedures, or how to get surveys and maps <strong>of</strong> my land, all <strong>of</strong> which I
needed to obtain <strong>the</strong> right to land.
– Family land meetings are held 1-3 times/year. Only elders, registered land owners can speak at
<strong>the</strong> meeting. When I spoke <strong>the</strong>y considered me greedy, cheeky, bringing New Zealand ideas and
values to <strong>the</strong> meeting and disrespecting <strong>the</strong> culture. You can call a family meeting, but it can be
difficult to get all <strong>the</strong> family and extended family members and landowners to attend. They also
tend to allocate <strong>the</strong> land amongst <strong>the</strong>mselves, over-utilising <strong>the</strong>ir shares.
– The title holder to my land was a traditional leader. His job was to hold <strong>the</strong> family toge<strong>the</strong>r, but
we all had equal rights to <strong>the</strong> land. In my case I asked for my land but was denied that by my
title holder. I couldn’t accept that so he took me to court.
– Access to justice – it can be difficult if you don’t know how <strong>the</strong> court works. The o<strong>the</strong>r landowner
could afford a lawyer, whereas I could not. The land court only sits once or twice a year, which
creates delays, making it a difficult to plan for development. Also <strong>the</strong> case kept having to be
adjourned, which is why it took four years. The first judge adjourned <strong>the</strong> case in order to get <strong>the</strong>
consent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> family ei<strong>the</strong>r through signature or by attending court. In <strong>the</strong> interim, that judge died.
The second judge commented that my submissions were so thorough I had made a clear case for
myself and two o<strong>the</strong>r families. However, <strong>the</strong> case was adjourned again to obtain <strong>the</strong> family’s
consensus. Then that judge also died. The problem with when a judge dies, is that you have to
re-prepare all your submissions. Finally, I put toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> submissions and sent <strong>the</strong>m to all <strong>the</strong>
landowners. By mistake <strong>the</strong> submission contained two errors in how I had allocated <strong>the</strong> shares,
which would disadvantage three <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> main objecting parties, so all <strong>the</strong> family members turned
up to court. I was able to correct <strong>the</strong> mistakes and obtain consensus, so it was passed. The outcome
is now a precedent set for all land owners in <strong>the</strong> Cook Islands.
– Access to finance - Getting a loan, while you have a case is difficult, because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> delays caused
by <strong>the</strong> land court’s infrequent schedule. If you put a proposal in you have to get <strong>the</strong> family to attend
<strong>the</strong> court to get <strong>the</strong>ir approval, but it was difficult to get all <strong>the</strong> family members to come.
Impacts – Emotional trauma <strong>of</strong> challenging your family title holder – I was ostracized from <strong>the</strong>
community, stigmatised. At social functions I was being ignored because I was a trouble maker – which
can be very hard when living in a small community. I had to take a year <strong>of</strong>f work because it was
emotionally so difficult.
It also cost me a lot <strong>of</strong> investment, time, and money (including lost income).
Violators –
– Husband – did not give me <strong>the</strong> financial support I needed to re-establish myself – I should not
have had to choose between my children and financial support;
– Family and traditional leaders – prevented me from accessing land and information and did not
support me;
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 187