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Acknowledgements

The project Women’s Access to Justice: He Putanga Mö Ngä Wähine ki te Tika, undertaken by the Law Commission, is the subject of this study prepared by me (Joanne Morris) while a Commissioner. The project could not have started, continued or been completed without the input of several thousand individuals and organisations from all parts of New Zealand. My sincere thanks go to all those who, as users, employees or other agents of the justice system:

• attended consultation meetings or made written or telephoned submissions to the project;

• assisted in the consultation programme as planners, facilitators, interviewers or advisors on the information collected;

• reviewed, before publication, the six consultation papers published during the project;

• assisted in the preparation of this publication.

The nature of the project demanded a high level of skill and dedication from those who worked on it during its four-year course. I thank all who are or were members or staff of the Law Commission in that period, particularly those most closely involved in this study of women’s access to legal services, including Ms Michelle Vaughan, Ms Makere Papuni, Ms Bridget Laidler, Ms Moira Thorn, Mr Robert Buchanan and Ms Sarah McKenzie. I also thank Ms Angela Howell for her analysis of the Census data and Ms Joy Liddicoat (Strategic Legal Services) for her invaluable assistance in the latter stages of the study.

The contributions of two women stand out for special mention.

Hepora Raharuhi Young (Te Arawa), as kaiarahi (leader) of the group which planned and facilitated the consultation programme with Mäori women, took a leading role in all the project’s activities until a few months before her death in December 1996. Hepora’s love of people and of learning, her wisdom, sense of humour, charm and dignity were all brought to bear in the vital period of the project’s development, to its enduring advantage.

Louisa Crawley, who was Deputy Director of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs at the time of her death late in 1995, also played a substantial role in the project’s development. Louisa facilitated the consultation programme with Pacific Islands women around New Zealand, organising and attending all the larger meetings, and was always willing to discuss their content with the project team and provide further contacts and information.

This study represents a very small part of the legacies which Hepora Young and Louisa Crawley have left to New Zealand. It is dedicated to them.