3: Settlement

The full agreement takes the form of a Deed of Settlement.

Cabinet must approve a Deed of Settlement before it is ratified by the whole claimant community by hui-a-iwi and postal voting.  After ratification and signing, the Deed of Settlement becomes legally binding on both parties. The claimant group must agree on a way of "holding" and managing the lands, cash and other redress the Crown will give to the claimants in order to settle their claim.

The Deed of Settlement will not take effect immediately but must be enshrined in an Act of Parliament before the Government can implement all the terms of the settlement.

For further information on the settlement process and examples of previous settlements between claimant groups and the Crown, visit the Office of Treaty Settlements website.

The settlement of historical Treaty claims does not affect the Crown’s ongoing duties under the Treaty, and the Waitangi Tribunal can still investigate whether the Crown is meeting those duties.

According the OTS, one of the aims of settlement negotiations is to provide a basis for a new and continuing relationship between the claimant group and the Crown based on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.