Guardianship — special guardian — welfare and best interests — mana tamaiti — te mana o te whanau — whanaungatanga — whakapapa — Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 ss 5, 13, 18B, 31, 110 & 113A — Care of Children Act 2004 — Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki v BH and JA [2021] NZFC 210 — Re WH [2021] NZFC 4090 — Tikanga Māori, Living by Māori Values, 2003 Huia Publishers — Justice Joe Williams “Lex Aotearoa: An Heroic Attempt to Map the Māori Dimension in Modern New Zealand Law” (2013) 21 Waikato Law Review 1. This was an application by the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki to discharge the current orders applying to the subject child and appoint the other applicants, the child's great aunt and uncle, as guardians. The respondents were the parents of the child and had willingly handed him over to the applicants when he was born. The Chief Executive had been the sole legal guardian of the child, and the other applicants had cared for and raised him since birth. The Court accepted that the applicants were the best people to raise the child, which was recognised by his birth parents, Oranga Tamariki and the guardians of the child's siblings. The applicants had also applied to be appointed as special guardians, proposing that they would hold exclusive rights of guardianship for medical and schooling matters, to change the child's surname to match their own, and that cultural and religious decisions would be shared with the child's birth parents. In determining whether to grant such an order, the Court needed to be satisfied it would best serve the child's best interests and welfare, particularly having regard to whakapapa, whanaungatanga and the child's mana as a tamaiti. The applicants were connected to the child through whakapapa, spoke te reo Māori, practiced tikanga and were committed to maintaining and strengthening the child's relationship with whānau, hapū and iwi. The Court was satisfied that the appointment of the applicants as special guardians were in the best interests of the child and made an order to that effect. Judgment Date: 23 June 2021. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *