This paper calls on government to pay even closer attention to the issues of whānau and whakapapa within the criminal justice system and advocates for the development of a new paradigm of transformative justice based on whānau development that values tino rangatiratanga and tikanga Māori.

In Whānau Ora and Imprisonment Sir Kim Workman asserts that “If the principle of tino rangatiratanga is fully acknowledged, then the development of a Kaupapa Māori justice system is an achievable outcome.”

This expert paper evolved from NPM’s Criminal Justice System in New Zealand project, led by Professor Tracey McIntosh (Ngāi Tūhoe), Sir Kim Workman (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Rangitāne o Wairarapa) and Patricia Walsh (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruawaipu) and explores the effects of imprisonment on the whānau ora (family wellbeing) of Māori communities.