The Maori Party is calling for sweeping changes to the justice system, as the Waitangi Tribunal agrees to hear a case against the Department of Corrections.
Maori make up 15 percent of the population, but more than 50 percent of the prison population.
Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says she hopes the tribunal case will lead to a shake-up of how Maori are treated by the justice system.
"We need to ensure that we are addressing the issues in the system that is causing those numbers. We also need to look at the dysfunction it causes in families and the continuous cycle that it embeds in our society."
Since 1981, more Maori have been imprisoned than any other ethnicity.
Newshub.
