Paki v Attorney-General
Supreme Court  NZSC 50
27 June 2012
What is a navigable river? The Supreme Court has given judgment on this preliminary issue in Paki v Attorney-General. The Court's judgments examine the purpose and effect of the 1903 Parliamentary declaration that the beds of navigable rivers were vested in the Crown. The factual context was a 32 km stretch of the Waikato River previously owned by the Pouakani people. By a majority, the Supreme Court decided this stretch of river was not navigable within the meaning of the Coal-mines Act Amendment Act 1903 and later Acts.
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