<P> A Supreme Court was first established in 1841 (it was renamed the High Court in 1980 and is different to the current Supreme Court), and various lower courts subsequently established . After a series of experiments, a three - tier court system came into being: Supreme Court, District Court and Magistrates' Court, with the Magistrates' Courts coming into being in 1846 . The Court of Appeal was set up in 1862, but consisted of panels of judges from the Supreme Court . The Court of Appeal was the highest court in New Zealand, although appeals could be taken from this to the Privy Council in London . The District Courts were abolished in 1925 but later re-established . In 1957 the Court of Appeal was reconstituted to become separate from the Supreme Court, having its own judges . In 2004 a new Supreme Court was established, becoming New Zealand's court of last resort following the simultaneous abolition of the right to appeal to the Privy Council . </P> <P> In 1865 a Native Land Court was established to "define the land rights of Māori people under Māori custom and to translate those rights or customary titles into land titles recognisable under European law". It has since been heavily criticised for acting as a device for removing Māori from their land . Some of the problems were with the court itself--holding proceedings in English and in cities far from Māori settlements, judges with inadequate knowledge of Māori custom--while others were more to do with the laws it enforced . For example, for many decades land law did not recognise that an entire hapu owned its land, and land ownership was put in the hands of a few people . In 1954 it was renamed the Māori Land Court, and has been substantially reformed since the nineteenth century . Until the mid-twentieth century it also dealt with Māori adoptions . </P> <P> The New Zealand judiciary have generally been seen as independent and non-corrupt, although not always non-biased . Until recent years they have played a very minor role in developing the law, and as late as 1966 it was said that they "usually follow English decisions scrupulously". In the 1980s the judiciary played a major role in redefining the constitutional position of the Treaty of Waitangi . </P> <P> New Zealand contract law was initially derived from the English model . Since 1969, however, a series of Acts of Parliament altered this, and New Zealand contract law is now' largely...distinct from other jurisdictions' . The main distinction of New Zealand contract law is the wide discretionary power given to courts in granting relief . Although these changes were initially opposed due to fears that they would make the remedy of contractual disputes unpredictable and increase levels of litigation, it is generally agreed that this has not happened, and that the laws are working satisfactorily . </P>

An area of new zealand law may be part statute law and part common law