Growing skills with Borrin Grant success
A focus on collaborative practice and how it might look in Aotearoa, and professional development in women’s leadership including study of tikanga Māori are among a range of projects by staff, students and alumni of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Law School that have been awarded prestigious grants from the Borrin Foundation.
In the latest round of funding from the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, a philanthropic organisation that supports legal research, education and scholarship in Aotearoa, five applications with links to the University were successful.
Faculty of Law lecturer Dr Marnie Lloydd has been selected by the Foundation to receive $9,340 towards professional development. Dr Lloydd hopes to enhance her research and teaching by pairing globally-focused professional develoment at Oxford University with locally-focused study of te reo and tikanga Māori. “In my work I like to link what’s ‘out there’—the violence and international conflict—with how that impacts Aotearoa,” she says. “And vice versa—how can New Zealand have an impact on these international issues?”
She plans to pursue the Women’s Leadership Develoment Programme offered by Oxford, and to study towards the Heke Akunga Tikanga (Diploma in Māori Laws and Philosophy) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki. Dr Lloydd specialises in international law related to armed conflict, forced migration, foreign fighting and humanitarianism. Her teaching at the University builds on her extensive experience in the international humanitarian sector.
Dr Lloydd believes strongly that all of the faculty has a responsibility to ensure te reo and tikanga Māori are supported at the University. “Because I’d been out of New Zealand for so many years, I felt I had quite a lot of catching up to do in terms of te reo and tikanga Māori when I returned to Te Herenga Waka in 2020. I’m very aware we shouldn’t claim any competence or teach things without the appropriate capability to do so, but at the same time, I think we all need to do that work—we need to be an ally for colleagues and students teaching and learning tikanga. That’s partly why I wanted to do this formal programme at the Wānanga— to have the chance to learn more and find an appropriate way to engage.”
Dr Lloydd says the grant feels like a strong endorsement from New Zealand’s legal community. “It’s a vote of confidence and a message of support from my legal peers here in New Zealand. Even though I’ve only been at the University for two years since returning from overseas, I felt that the Borrin Foundation selection committee saw me as a whole person and took into account all the work I’ve done elsewhere that I’ve brought back to New Zealand as I continue to transition into my new role at Te Herenga Waka,” she says. “I’m very grateful for the grant and I’m looking forward to doing these courses—it’s extremely meaningful to me to receive that encouragement to keep doing what I’m doing, and to have it recognised that it’s important to talk about these very difficult issues of violence, military conflict and humanitarian action.”
Another successful Borrin Foundation grant recipient is Jamie-Lee Tuuta (Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), a current Master’s student at Te Herenga Waka, who has been awarded $9,910 to travel to the United States to attend a forum about collaborative practice. This practice is an alternative disputes resolution process that allows parties to keep proceedings out of court and negotiate outcomes that are in the best interests of both parties.
Jamie-Lee is studying towards her Master’s part time while working full time as a barrister in Christchurch, predominantly in Family Law and Māori Land Law. She says she has always been interested in justice reform, and had the opportunity to train as a collaborative practitioner when she first started as a barrister.
“Collaborative Practice helps both parties move through disputes without the risk and stress of litigation, and there’s also the oportunity to involve neutral professionals—such as financial experts or mental health practitioners—to help the process,” she explains. “It’s particularly beneficial in disputes where ongoing relationships are important. It’s a safe, dignified environment for whānau, allowing them to reduce conflict in what’s already a stressful time.”
Jamie-Lee will use her Borrin grant to attend the annual forum of the International Association of Collaborative Practice in Orlando, Florida in October. There she hopes to further her learning and understanding of Collaborative Practice, especially as it relates to family law. She says it will also be a fantastic opportunity to learn from her peers overseas who are using Collaborative Practice and explore the use of this in indigenous communities.
Jamie-Lee says while collaborative practice has become an integral part of the disputes resolution process in many countries, it is only just starting to gain real momentum in Aotearoa. “We’ve got 17 family lawyers here in Christchurch who are trained up now, and we’re trying to get a critical mass of practitioners here so that this alternative process can become the norm. I’m really excited for that,” she says.
“I’m also really keen to look into a collaborative process that incorporates tikanga Māori—New Zealand is unique in that respect, but there’s a lot we can learn from work that’s happening in indigenous communities around the world, which is why I’m so grateful for this opportunity to meet colleagues working in this area at the forum in Florida.”
She says Christchurch has had tough time of it in recent years, and she can see a real need for an out-of-court alternative for people who find themselves in conflict. “Many whānau in Christchurch are facing a number of challenges, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic . There’s a cocktail of challenges which are impacting the wellbeing of whānau in Christchurch that are only starting to emerge and be understood.
“This grant will povide me with an opportunity of a lifetime to travel internationally to learn more about Collaborative Practice—it will provide a strong foundation to grow the practice in Aotearoa so that it can be available to those who would benefit from it the most.”