Office of Human Rights Proceedings In 2013, the Office of Human Rights Proceedings received 10 applications for legal representation relating to complaints about race, ethnic and national origins or racial harassment. Two complaints were referred back to the Commission for mediation. The Director declined to provide representation to four applicants and the remaining four are waiting for a decision. Decisions on three applications received in 2012 were also released. The Director declined to provide representation to these applicants. Three matters that were referred back to the Commission for mediation in 2012 resulted in requests for the Director to re-activate the applications for legal representation after mediation failed. One applicant was declined representation. One applicant issued proceedings in the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the matter was subsequently settled with assistance from the Director. The Office of Human Rights Proceedings issued proceedings in the Human Rights Review Tribunal on behalf of one applicant. posted on the Internet. The taxi driver was praised for his professional manner during the offensive behaviour and for his courage in reporting the matter. Only a few weeks later a Christchurch man was charged with assaulting an Indian taxi driver. The driver said he was racially abused and feared for his life. Alarmingly, one driver who was seriously injured after a brutal and violent raciallymotivated bashing in Tauranga said that race-based abuse is a fact of life in the taxi industry. A Napier woman was convicted after hurling racial abuse at a taxi driver before assaulting him and attempting to take his car. The court heard that the driver was bombarded with a tirade of racial insults, punches and slaps. A judge sentenced the woman to 100 hours community work, saying that taxi drivers should be able to ply their trade without abuse. Cameras installed in taxis have helped to limit abuse. However, drivers are still regularly faced with racially offensive language, harassment and violence. In 2013, the Commission received five complaints about racist comments toward taxi drivers. Human Rights Review Tribunal The Human Rights Review Tribunal concluded two racerelated cases in 2013. The first (Peters v Wellington Combined Shuttles [2013] NZHRRT 21) related to an allegation of racial discrimination made by the former employee of a taxi company. The Tribunal concluded that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case and proceedings were dismissed. The second (Meek v Ministry of Social Development [2013] NZHRRT 28) involved claims that the plaintiff had been denied financial assistance by the Ministry of Social Development because he was not Mäori. The Tribunal concluded that there was no evidence of discrimination by reason of race or ethnicity. The proceedings were dismissed. Mokomoko Bill restores mana The passing of the Mokomoko Bill in December 2013 marked the end of a long journey for descendants of Te Whakatöhea rangatira, Mokomoko, who was executed in the 1860s for his alleged role in the murder of Reverend Carl Sylvius Volkner. Mokomoko received a pardon in 1992 for the murder he never committed. The Bill promised to restore the character, mana, and reputation of the rangatira and to restore the Crown’s relationship with the Mokomoko whänau. The Office of Human Rights Proceedings was not involved in either hearing. Taxi drivers a target for racial abuse Taxi companies admitted that racial abuse was not uncommon after a passenger was caught on video abusing a Pakistan-born taxi driver following a night out in Invercargill. The passenger was given a formal warning by police following the abuse, which was filmed and Tüi Tüi Tuituiä | Race Relations in 2013 Pita Biddle, Chief Mokomoko’s descendant, pictured at Waiaua Marae near Opotiki. © APN/A Gibson 25