Te Ao Māori in Court 

Courtroom forms of address

The Courts of New Zealand's Guidelines for Courtroom Conduct for Counsel July 2026 sets out courtroom forms of address and introductions (see [5] to [8] and the Appendix). These guidelines include both English and te reo Māori versions.

To help practitioners, we have compiled these forms of address into a series of easy-reference tables covering:

1. Forms of address
   a. Addressing a judge 
   b. Referring to a judge in the third person
   c. Meeting a judge outside court
   
   
2. Introductions in Court
   a. One judge, one counsel, one client
   b. Three or more judges, two counsel, more than one client
   
   
3. Party names
   
   
4. Addressing opposing or other counsel
   
   
5. Concluding the hearing 

The document can be downloaded below.

Courtroom Attire – Dress and Wearing Taonga

The Guidelines note at [10] and [11] that counsel should generally wear plain dark clothing when appearing in court, including suits, dresses, and jackets. Brighter-coloured clothing is generally acceptable in the Family Court and Māori Land Court. Culturally required headwear may also be worn in court.  

The Guidelines also confirm that counsel may wear taonga, including as an alternative to a tie. Where taonga are worn in place of a tie, they should be worn with a shirt fastened at the collar.  Cultural dress such as korowai and kākahu may be worn in court on ceremonial occasions. 

The Guidelines refer to the Chief Justice's Media Statement of 25 May 2021, Interim Guidance – Wearing Taonga in all Courts.  Paragraph 8 of that statement provides:

“This interim guidance does not intend to provide a comprehensive definition of taonga.  However, for the purposes of this guidance, ‘taonga’ is intended to refer to a decorative item of special Māori cultural significance that is worn around a person’s neck.”