Moana Jackson | |
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Born | Hastings, New Zealand | 10 October 1945
Died | 31 March 2022 Waimana, New Zealand | (aged 76)
Resting place | Matahiwi Marae |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Relatives | Everard Jackson (father) Syd Jackson (brother) June Jackson (sister-in-law) Willie Jackson (nephew) Fred Jackson (grandfather) |
Moana Jackson CRSNZ (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. He was an advocate and activist for Māori rights, arguing that the New Zealand criminal justice system was discriminatory and leading work on constitutional reforms. In 1987 he co-founded Ngā Kaiwhakamarama i Ngā Ture (the Māori Legal Service). He also supported the rights of indigenous people internationally – for example, through leading the working group that drafted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and sitting as a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights in the 1990s.