Te Ao Mārama — Enhancing Justice for All

Te Ao Mārama is a judicially led District Court kaupapa that partners with iwi and communities to ensure all court participants, including victims and whānau, are seen, heard and understood. It is intended to enhance justice for everyone who attends the District Court. It draws on proven ways to reduce reoffending and the disproportionate number of Māori in the justice system.

It is inclusive of everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, abilities, who they are or where they are from.

Te Ao Mārama literally means the world of light and is intended to signal the development of a more enlightened approach to justice in the District Court. It responds to repeated calls for transformative change over the past four decades.

Over the years, in response to concerns about the need to improve the justice system, the District Court judiciary has implemented a range of initiatives, including specialist solution-focused and therapeutic courts. These initiatives have proven to be effective. However, people can only access them if they are available in their area.

Te Ao Mārama is a comprehensive response for the District Court. It expands best practice approaches from specialist courts such as the Young Adult List to the mainstream District Court.

Everyone, including victims and whānau, will be seen, heard, understood and able to take part in court proceedings in meaningful ways.

Te Ao Mārama recognises every court appearance must be meaningful to participants. Timely justice is a central feature of this kaupapa.

Te Ao Mārama requires no changes to the law and does not compromise the independent mana of the judiciary, justice sector agencies or iwi and the community.  It is not a new court; it is a new way of working for the District Court and everyone who participates in it.

Te Ao Mārama will help judicial officers and court staff to support victims in better ways. For example, there will be more opportunities for victims and their whānau to speak during the court process.

Te Ao Mārama partners with iwi and communities to design and deliver solutions to meet each community’s diverse needs. It will build from existing services in the community, not duplicate them.

Based on experience in our own and overseas specialist courts, the impacts of Te Ao Mārama will include:

  • Reduced reoffending and seriousness of reoffending
  • Reduced stress and harm
  • Increased trust and confidence in the justice system
  • Reduced disproportionate representation of Māori in the justice system
  • Increased wellbeing of court participants and their communities, including with cultural identity, social and whānau connections, and social cohesion.

Judicial officers and court staff will be fully supported to learn and put into practice the new approaches and processes needed for Te Ao Mārama.

Some District Court locations are already working in ways that contribute to Te Ao Mārama. For example, Whakaorangia te Mana Tangata – at the District Court in Kaitāia, Tairāwhiti and Kaikohe – is a whānau-centred initiative designed and provided by local iwi or iwi-mandated service providers to support Māori defendants, victims and whānau through the court process.

Te Ao Mārama is being introduced alongside changes to rostering and scheduling, and court process and technology initiatives (such as the Criminal Process Improvement Programme and Te Au Reka) to ensure cases are heard and completed in a timely way.

What will Te Ao Mārama look like, in practice?

 Te Ao Mārama will include knowledge, skills and approaches that we already know work well in specialist and therapeutic courts (including the Rangatahi, Matariki, Young Adult List, and Family Violence Courts,) such as:

  • solution-focused judging
  • using plain language
  • revised courtroom layouts 
  • tikanga Māori

Te Ao Mārama will also include approaches that are unique to each community — it brings the strength of iwi and communities into the court through partnerships to design and develop services to meet each community’s diverse needs.

How will we grow Te Ao Mārama?

Te Ao Mārama is a judicially-led kaupapa supported by the Ministry of Justice.  Iwi, communities and local service providers play a critical role in growing Te Ao Mārama. A tailored plan will be developed for each community, in partnership with local iwi, justice sector agencies (including  Ara Poutama Aotearoa Department of Corrections and New Zealand Police), the legal profession and other relevant government agencies and support services.

Where will we see Te Ao Mārama?

Te Ao Mārama is being developed first in the District Court in Hamilton, Gisborne and Kaitāia. Over time, it is intended to implement Te Ao Mārama in all District Court locations nationwide. Other locations will be announced in due course.

Other resources

Budget 2022 Fact sheet (external link)

Press release: The Justice Sector’s Contribution to the Government’s Wellbeing Agenda (external link)

Press release: Transformative Te Ao Mārama model announced for District Court (external link)

Norris Ward McKinnon Annual Lecture 2020(external link)

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