Valmaine Toki Explained

Valmaine Toki
Nationality:New Zealand
Occupation:Barrister, solicitor, academic
Known For:Work on indigenous issues and Māori legal matters
Education:BA, LLB, LLM, MBA, Ph.D.
Alma Mater:University of Auckland (BA, LLB, LLM), University of Tasmania (MBA), University of Waikato (Ph.D.)
Thesis Title:A Case for an Indigenous Court - a realisation of self-determination?
Thesis Url:https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10612
Thesis Year:2016
Discipline:Law
Sub Discipline:Indigenous rights, Māori legal issues
Professor
Workplaces:University of Waikato

Valmaine Toki is a New Zealand barrister, solicitor, author, advocate and academic. Toki is Professor of Law at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

In 2011, Toki became the first New Zealander and first Māori appointed by the President of the UN Economic and Social Council as an independent expert to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues where she served two terms of three years (2011–2017).

In 2019, Toki was elected to the Aotea/Great Barrier Island Local Board.[1] In 2022 she was appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), as an independent expert, and the first New Zealander and Māori appointee. In July 2024, she was appointed chair of EMRIP.[2] [3] [4]

Early life and education

Toki is a Māori woman, of Ngati Rehua, Ngati Wai, Ngāpuhi and Ngati Whatua descent.[5]

Toki studied law at the University of Auckland, followed by a master's degree as a He Ture Pumau Scholar in business administration at the University of Tasmania, Australia, supported by the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.[6] Her master's focused on marine resources management. She also finished her LLM at the University of Auckland.

As part of Toki's doctoral research into the disproportionate offending rates of Māori people in the New Zealand's criminal justice system, she travelled to different jurisdictions to study community court systems. Toki completed her PhD in 2016 at the University of Waikato. Her thesis was titled "A Case for an Indigenous Court: a realisation of self-determination?".[7]

Career

Toki worked for Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd on Māori fisheries, aquaculture, and asset allocation. In 2007 she was appointed to a law lecturer position at the University of Auckland and taught in the areas of contemporary Treaty of Waitangi and Māori issues, jurisprudence and legal method.

In 2009, Toki highlighted the ongoing issue of Māori representation in Auckland's governance, referencing historical context and developments. Despite recommendations from the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance for Māori seats on the then-new Auckland council, the government chose not to support these recommendations. Toki emphasized the unique status of Māori as tangata whenua and criticized the equating of Māori rights with those of other minority groups.[8]

In 2011, Toki was the first New Zealander and first Måori appointed by the President of the UN Economic and Social Council as an independent expert on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues where she served two terms of three years. In 2022, She was appointed by the president of the UN Human Rights Council to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Issues. Toki also became the first Måori and first New Zealander to hold the title.[9]

In 2012 Toki commenced her role at Te Piringa, Faculty of Law, University of Waikato where she remains as of 2024.

In 2018, her book Indigenous courts, self-determination and criminal justice was published and advocates for the establishment of a marae-based Indigenous court in New Zealand.[10]

In 2023, she delivered the annual Dame Silvia Cartwright lecture on the recognition of Indigenous Rights for the Auckland Women’s Lawyers Association.[11]

In 2024, her book Indigenous rights, climate change and governance: Measuring success and data published by Edward Elgar Publishing she explores the how Indigenous rights are recognised to ameliorate the adverse effects of climate change, within Artificial Intelligence and an Indigenous right to space.

On July 8 2024, Toki was appointed Chair of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP).

On Tikanga Māori

Toki understands Tikanga Māori as the correct way of doing things and derived from cosmology, customs and practices. She highlights that Tikanga is a fluid system influenced by context, encompassing mechanisms such as mana, tapu, and mauri, which regulate relationships to achieve balance. Toki emphasizes that for Tikanga to adapt to societal changes it must retain its foundational principles. In an interview to Aoetea, she reflected on her time at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, where she implemented Tikanga principles in international policy work.

Selected publications

Books

Selected peer reviewed articles

Selected peer-reviewed UN reports

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Council . Auckland . Results and voter turnout numbers 2019 . 2024-08-04 . Auckland Council . en.
  2. Web site: 2024-08-02 . Māori to the front of leading indigenous peoples rights . 2024-08-01 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  3. Web site: Wahine Māori Appointed As New United Nations EMRIP Chair To Advance Indigenous Rights Scoop News . 2024-08-01 . www.scoop.co.nz.
  4. Web site: University of Waikato law prof takes top role at UN . 2024-08-01 . www.thelawyermag.com . en.
  5. Web site: University of Waikato . 2024-08-01 . profiles.waikato.ac.nz.
  6. Web site: Valmaine Toki – The University of Auckland . 16 October 2021 . www.nzcel.auckland.ac.nz.
  7. Toki . Valmaine . 2016 . Doctoral thesis . A Case for an Indigenous Court - a realisation of self-determination? . Waikato Research Commons, University of Waikato . 10289/10612 .
  8. Web site: 2024-08-02 . Valmaine Toki: Deja vu as another call for Maori representation ignored . 2024-08-01 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  9. Web site: First wahine Māori appointed to United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) :: University of Waikato . 2024-08-01 . www.waikato.ac.nz . en-nz.
  10. Web site: 13 November 2019. Delivering a bicultural legal education in Hamilton. 16 October 2021. New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa. en.
  11. Web site: Dame Silvia Cartwright Lecture 2023 . 2024-08-09 . awla.org.nz . en-NZ.

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