Two acts passed by the General Assembly of New Zealand, 1858, relating to native affairs, namely: the Native Districts Regulation Act; and the Native Circuit Courts Act. He Ture hou, erua, i whakatakotoria e te Runanga Nui o Niu Tirani, 1858. Ara; Ko te Ture whakakoto Ture-iti ki nga Takiwa Maori, ko te Ture whakarite Kooti Maori.

V.—Appointment and Jurisdiction of Native Assessors

V.—Appointment and Jurisdiction of Native Assessors.

XXXI.	It shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time to appoint Aboriginal Natives, of the greatest authority and best repute in their respective tribes, to be Assessors of the Resident Magistrate for the purposes of this Act, and of an Ordinance of the Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, intituled "An Ordinance to provide for the establishment of Resident Magistrates' Courts, and to make special provision for the administration of Justice in certain cases;" and such Assessors from time to time to remove; and every such appointment may either confer a general or local jurisdiction.
XXXII.	It shall be lawful for the Governor to select certain Assessors to hold a Court, to be styled "The Assessors' Court," and such Assessors shall hold Assessors' Courts within such Districts appointed under this Act, as the Governor may assign to them respectively for that purpose.
XXXIII.	Within every District appointed for the purposes of this Act, any two or more of the Assessors so selected for the District, shall, under the style of the Assessors' Court, have and exercise all the powers and page 21 functions hereby vested in the Native Circuit Court, or in the presiding Resident Magistrate thereof; and such Assessors' Court shall be subject to the like rules of practice, and shall use the like forms, and take the like fees as the Native Circuit Court, subject to any modifications which the Governor in Council may from time to time direct : Provided that such Assessors' Court shall have no power to award or inflict any other or greater punishment than a fine of not exceeding twenty shillings (20s.) and shall have no Jurisdiction in Civil cases where the debt or damage claimed or other matter in dispute exceeds in amount or value the sum of five pounds (£5,) and shall have no Jurisdiction either Civil or Criminal, except over persons of the Native race : Provided also that an appeal shall lie from every Conviction, Order, or Judgment of the Assessors' Court to the Native Circuit Court of the District.
XXXIV.	No Distress Warrant issued by the Assessors' Court shall be executed elsewhere than within the District in which it shall have been issued, unless the same shall be endorsed by a Resident Magistrate.

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