Convicted child sex offender Peter Ellis may be dead but his fight to clear his name has raised an existential question at the Supreme Court.
Judges are considering whether to adopt a Tikanga Māori approach to appeals by the dead in what would be a major departure from the traditional western view.
Peter Ellis died in September with 13 convictions of child sex abuse to his name. The Crown argues his rights to appeal ended on his death - a widely held principle in Commonweath countries.
However, at last week's hearing, two of the judges, including the court's first major Māori judge, threw a legal curveball.
"An ancestor has even more reputation to protect, is more tapu, has more mana - so the Māori perspective is the opposite of the anglo perspective," Justice Joe Williams said, also asking the Crown: "Do you think we should divert from the anglo principle?"
"I'd say the court must be open to that," Crown lawyer Una Jagose responded.
Now, when it comes to appeals of the deceased, the Supreme Court could carve out a new rule based on Tikanga Māori.
Ngati Poneke President David Ormsby said, "the good thing about Māoridom is that we remember them in speeches, we pay respect to those that have passed away only because they are always with us and their thoughts guide us."
More Māori principles are also being folded into New Zealand laws, which is adding a distinct flavour from other Commonweath countries.
" Increasingly now we are seeing our courts willing to engage with Tikanga concepts, like mana whenua or Ahikāroa which are Māori law ideas about relationship with land," law lecturer Carwyn Jones said.
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