MARRIAGE LAW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 64, 13 April 1943, Page 5

MARRIAGE LAW

MAORI AND PAKEHA

DIFFERENT RULES SUGGESTED

The proposal that there should be different marriage laws with different age of marriage and consent for Maoris and for pakehas was made by Mr Chalmers when appearing in the Auckland Supreme Court last week for a Maori, Tati Ripaki, aged 21, of Waiohou. THe prisoner came before Mr Justice Callan for sentence on a charge of unlawful carnal knowledge, of a Maori girl, aged 14 years and five months. In submitting that the law should be amended so as to make one law for the Maori and another for the pakeha, Mr Chalmers pointed, out that this was the position with the marriage law in India and also in Fiji and other of the British do minions. He said that in this case the Maori council had investigated and had given its approval to the union of these two. His Honor said he had to administer the law as it stood, but the test he tried to apply in these cases was whether the Maori leaders tolerated and approved the union or not. He did not propose to be drawn into the interesting discussion as to how the legislature should perform its duties in this matter. The girl would be 16 on June 22, 1944. He would admit accused to probation, until June 22. 1944, and require that until that date he should keep completely away from the girl.