This report is the result of the first stage of a multi-year, three-phase national project. It contains a review the literature and some of the preliminary opportunities relevant for the teaching of Māori law as a foundation source of the Aotearoa New Zealand Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree for the benefit of the legal profession and Aotearoa New Zealand society.  

Key points:

• To realise the practice of Māori law as law in Aotearoa New Zealand’s modern legal system, systemic change in the legal profession needs to occur.
• The authors call for a legal profession that is trained to work in a bijural, bicultural and bilingual Aotearoa New Zealand legal system
• Undergraduate legal education has an essential role in fulfilling this call for change
• Aotearoa New Zealand’s six law schools already have varying levels of competency in this area but should now move in a systemic formal manner towards preparing their graduates for a legal practice built on a bijural, bicultural and bilingual legal education