22. Every Commissioner appointed to any district under this Act, shall forthwith issue a notice in English and Maori, which shall be published in the New Zealand Gazette and the Maori Kahiti and in one local newspaper (if any) in circulation within any Native Land District, calling upon all persons who have outstanding or incomplete transactions for the sale or lease of any land with any owners within such district, to forward the particulars of their claims to him within three months from the date of such notice.

23. As soon as may be convenient after the expiration of the above period of throe months, the Commissioner shall, by notice to be published in the manner aforesaid, appoint a day (not loss than one month from the date of such notice) for hearing and determining the justice and validity of such claims, when, if satisfied that any such transaction is bona fude and fair to all the parties concerned, he shall issue a Certificate under seal to that effect to the applicant; which Certificate shall show on the face thereof the number of sellers or lessors, and the number of non-sellers or non-lessors, giving the name of each person respectively. Such Certificate shall be given to the applicant, and a copy thereof shall be inscribed in the District Register of Title, and the General Register of Titles.

24. If on such hearing, as aforesaid, the Commissioner shall refuse to make a Certificate in respect of any claim, he shall make an order to that effect, and, if requested, shall give to the claimant his reasons therefor in writing, and shall forward copies of the evidence given in the case, and the reason of such refusal to the Chief Commissioner and to the Minister for Lands for their information. The Minister for Lands may, if he shall deem fit, on an application in that behalf being made to him by the claimant, order the case to he re-heard before the Chief Commissioner and the Commissioner for the District within which it originated. If on such rehearing the claimant shall be found to be entitled to a Certificate, it shall be issued to him and dealt with as provided for in the next previous sections. If on a re-hearing the claimant shall be found not to be entitled to receive a Certificate, an order to that effect shall be made and shall be signed page 41 by the Chief Commissioner, and the Commissioner for the District, the orders so made, whether by the Commissioner in the first instance or by the Chief Commissioner and the Commissioner as above enacted, shall be final and conclusive, and the legality thereof shall not be called in question in any Court of Law in the Colony of New Zealand. Any applicant for a Certificate may appear before the Commissioner by counsel or agent. A copy of any such order shall be inscribed in the District Register of Titles and the General Register of Titles.

25. Any certificate so made and sealed, as far as the interests which have been acquired by purchase or lease are concerned, and not otherwise, shall have the effect of a Certificate made by a Trust Commissioner appointed under "The Native Land Frauds Prevention Act, 1881," and it shall also confer on the person named therein the right to complete the purchase or lease of the land the subject of such Certificate, and to acquire any outstanding interests therein, during a period of three years from the date thereof. And such Certificate, during the time it shall be in force, shall effectually bar the right of any person whomsoever, other than the first purchaser or lessee, from dealing with the land comprised in such Certificate. Unless it shall in the meanwhile be cancelled by the holder thereof applying for and obtaining a Partition Order under this Act, in which case the lands awarded to the non-sellers or non-lessors shall be classed as "Disposable Lands," and be open for dealing with in manner hereinafter provided

26. Such Certificate may, by permission of the Commissioner, be transferred by the holder thereof to any other person; but a copy of such transfer must be inscribed in the District Register of Title.

27. At the time when a Commissioner shall order a Certificate to issue to an applicant to enable him to continue his purchase or lease, it shall be lawful for such person to then apply to the Commissioner to partition the interests which have been acquired by him from those of the non-sellers or non-lessors. Whereupon the Commissioner shall direct the applicant to endeavour to make an arrangement with the owners for the partition of the land in question, and shall fix a day for the further hearing of the matter. On the day so fixed, if the Commissioner is satisfied that all the parties concerned have agreed to partition of the land the subject of the claim, he shall then proceed in the manner prescribed in the next following section. Failing any such arrangement the Commissioner may, if convenient and all the parties are present, proceed to hoar the case forthwith, but, if otherwise, he shall appoint a day for hearing the claim of the applicant, of which notice of at least one month shall be published, as hereinbefore provided. On the day so fixed the Commissioner shall sit in open Court and proceed to hear and determine the case in the manner hereinafter provided in Section 35, for hearing cases of disputed Tribal boundaries inside districts.

28. On an arrangement being arrived at between the parties in the matter of any incomplete purchase, for the partition of the interests acquired by the purchaser from those retained by non-sellers, the Commissioner having satisfied himself that such agreement is fair and is understood by the parties thereto, shall forthwith cancel the original muniment of title and shall make two Partition Orders, one in favour of the purchaser, and the other in favour of the non-sellers, for the respective parcels of land as arranged between them, and a Certificate of Title shall be issued for each of such parcels of land in lion of such orders, on the production to the Commissioner of a proper survey map thereof, prepared in the manner hereinafter proscribed for the making of surveys. Such sub-divisional survey shall be made at the expense of the purchaser.

29. On an arrangement being arrived at between the parties in the matter of any incomplete lease, for the partition of the interests held by the lessee from those of the owners dissenting to such lease, the Commissioner, having satisfied himself that such agreement is fair and is understood by the parties thereto, shall forthwith cancel the original muniment of title and shall make two Partition Orders, one in favour of the lessors, and one in favour of the non-lessors, for the respective parcels of land as arranged between them; and a Certificate of Title shall be issued for each of such parcels of land in lieu of such orders, on the production to the Commissioner of a proper survey map thereof, prepared in the manner hereinafter prescribed for the making of surveys. Such sub-divisional survey shall be made at the joint cost of the lessors and the lessee. The lessee may, at the time of the making of the Partition Orders aforesaid, make application to the Commissioner for a Leasing Order for the parcel of land allotted to the lessors; the Commissioner shall thereupon order that a Leasing Order shall issue for the parcel of land to which it refers. The effect of such Leasing Order shall be to confirm the original lease over the land forming the subject of such order; and the rent reserved by such lease shall be diminished in proportion to the area of the parcel of land which has been cut off from the original lease; or if the lessors and the lessee shall elect to dispense with a Leasing Order, and make a new lease for such rent and for such term as may be agreed on between them, it shall be competent; for them to do so. Such now lease shall be executed in the presence of the Commissioner, and shall be attested and sealed by him.

30. The holder of any certificate ordered or issued in respect of any incomplete purchase, in accordance with the provisions herein before made, may at any time during the throe years within which the same is in operation, or at any time thereafter, make application to the Commissioner for a partition of the land the subject of such certificate. And the application for such partition shall be heard and a Partition Order made in the manner previously set forth in sections 27, 28, and 29 hereof.