New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Trustee elections

Legal area

Court

22 Feb 2016

SOLOMON_x001e_REHE & ORS v HOKOTEHI MORIORI TRUST [2016] NZHC 239

Citation

[2016] NZHC 239
Court

High Court

The case was a trustee-on-trustee dispute (fourth Buckton category); viewed overall both plaintiffs and defendants were unsuccessful so costs should lie where they fall; trustees who were invalidly holding office (terms expired or appointments invalid) cannot claim indemnity under cl 24.1; accordingly no costs orders were made in favour of plaintiffs, defendants or Attorney-General and no indemnification was ordered from the Trust for the trustees' costs.
6 Mar 2015

SOLOMON-REHE v HOKOTEHI MORIORI TRUST [2015] NZHC 46

Citation

[2015] NZAR 776
Court

High Court

The 2010 amendment was invalid because the Trust Deed required amendments to be considered at a properly convened Hui a Moriori or Annual Hui with the quorum under cl 13.2; similarly trustee elections require a Hui a Moriori/AGM (postal voting alone insufficient), so the August 2012 election was invalid; the trustees exceeded their powers in purporting to cancel the election for reasons other than the Deed-based invalidity and were in breach for refusing to hold required elections; consequentially the Court declared terms of office of seven trustees expired, invalidated the amendment and the…
27 Mar 2013

KARAKA V NGAI TAI KI TAMAKI TRIBAL TRUST HC AK CIV-2011-404-7664

Citation

openlaw-fed6de27_bb2e_4b1b_9d24_011184992339.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court declined to remove Emily Karaka and Deborah Pace as trustees; it found the Trust was irregularly operated during the exclusion period but would not declare the AIP void in proceedings to which the Crown was not a party; the Deed of Mandate does not prevent immediate removal of negotiators by trustee resolution (subject to iwi appeal), and the majority trustees, although having acted improperly in several respects, should not be removed immediately because that would paralyse the Trust. Instead the Court ordered a clean‑sweep trustee election by 31 July 2013 with all trustees removed…

New Zealand Case Law

SOLOMON_x001e_REHE & ORS v HOKOTEHI MORIORI TRUST [2016] NZHC 239

SOLOMON-REHE v HOKOTEHI MORIORI TRUST [2015] NZHC 46

KARAKA V NGAI TAI KI TAMAKI TRIBAL TRUST HC AK CIV-2011-404-7664