Moana Jackson CRSNZ (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues.
He was an advocate and activist for Māori rights, arguing that the New Zealand criminal justice system was discriminatory and leading work on constitutional reforms.
[2][9] On Jackson's death, a number of well-known New Zealanders paid him tribute including Marama Davidson (co-leader of the Green Party), academics Margaret Mutu and Khylee Quince, and writer Tina Makereti.
[10] New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern said:[11] Moana Jackson was well-known domestically and internationally for his expertise in indigenous issues.
[25] Jackson lectured at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki on the Ahunga Tīkanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) degree programme.
[15] In the early 2010s he chaired a board appointed by the Minister of Education to ensure the survival of Te Aute College, a school with a strong Māori character which was experiencing financial difficulties.
[30] He noted that indigenous people traditionally have justice systems that seek to restore "the balance between the wrongdoer and the victim through mediation processes involving sanction and recompense".
[32] In 2017 Jackson was awarded an honorary doctorate from Victoria University of Wellington for his outstanding contribution to legal scholarship around the Treaty and to public debates about how Māori are treated by the justice system and their place in New Zealand society more broadly.
[14][35] In May 2021, he was presented with the inaugural Te Whare Pukenga award by the National Iwi Chairs Forum, to recognise his "outstanding contributions as an advocate, facilitator and educator" in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi, human rights and social justice.