Who Owns the Bed of Rivers?
The question of ownership of river beds between riparian owners and the Crown turns on the issue of navigability. Historically, this was dealt with under section 14 of the Coal-mines Act Amendment Act 1903 (CAAA'03) which was substantially re-enacted in section 261 of the Coal Mines Act 1979 (CMA). The legislation holds that if a river was navigable then it vests in the Crown. In determining, contrary to earlier decisions, that the stretch of river in question was not navigable, the Supreme Court (SC) decision in Paki v Attorney-General is a small victory for Maori.