peoples to self-determination. This right is also at the core of Te Tiriti as tino rangatiratanga and is found in international human rights treaties New Zealand has ratified, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.1 The Declaration aligns with Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) including the inter-relationship between people and the natural world and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of these natural resources. In this report, the Commission has identified a number of rights and principles contained in the Declaration that flow from the right to self-determination and which we consider are of direct application to Ihumātao. These are: • The right to land requires the Government to protect Māori rights to their lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or used. • The right to culture affirms the right of Māori to maintain, protect and develop the dignity of their culture. • The right to protection requires the Government to recognise and protect the right of Māori to maintain, control, protect and develop their rights under the Declaration. • The right to participation requires the Government to consult with Māori in good faith with the objective of obtaining their consent on measures that may affect them. • The right to free, prior and informed consent is a central component of the right to participation. It involves the right of Māori to be fully informed, be appropriately consulted with, and to fully participate in, any decision-making relevant to their ancestral right to land, territories and resources. • The principle of good faith requires consultations be carried out in the spirit of mutual trust and transparency. • The right to redress and restitution requires that where lands have been confiscated without the free, prior and informed consent of Māori there should be redress in the form of restitution (return) in the first instance or when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation. • Decision-making processes must be fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent in particular, the Government has an obligation to guarantee mana whenua with access to justice including in respect of any claims they have regarding their dispossessed lands. 4