2022 JF Northey Memorial Book Award: Ned Fletcher

Ned Fletcher, Director of Kayes Fletcher Walker Ltd, the Office of the Manukau Crown Solicitor, received the 2022 JF Northey Memorial Book Award for The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The adjudicators said: 

“This is an excellent book in every respect. The many arguments that have been made over the years regarding the intent and purpose of the Treaty, as revealed by its English text, are set out and effectively laid to rest by Ned Fletcher’s compelling thesis. He views the Treaty in the context of its factual matrix and concludes that for those who framed the Treaty there was little difference in meaning between the English and the Te Reo text. 

This is a book that is timely; it offers Aotearoa New Zealand a reliable compass with which to navigate the troubled waters we sadly still face when it comes to our recognition of the Treaty, and what it means for Māori and Pakeha. It also shows us that this is a voyage we must make together: He waka eke noa.”

Before starting Kayes Fletcher Walker Ltd with his wife Natalie Walker and friend Gareth Kayes in 2014, Ned Fletcher worked as a prosecutor at Meredith Connell where he was involved in the Operation Unique Pitcairn Island sex trial appeals to the Privy Council. 

He is a graduate of the University of Auckland and University of Oxford. From 2007 to 2014, he undertook a PhD at Auckland Law School on the meaning of the English text of the Treaty of Waitangi under the supervision of Professors Michael Taggart and Sir David Williams KNZM KC. 

His book, The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi, is based on his PhD thesis. 

Ned is a past student member of the LRF Executive Council and is a current trustee of the New Zealand Law Foundation and the Judith Binney Trust, two organisations that support research and writing on (respectively) law and history in Aotearoa.