Valmaine Toki

Professor Valmaine Toki is a Maori legal scholar and academic leader at the University of Waikato’s Te Piringa Faculty of Law. She holds a BA LLB (Hons), MBA, LLM, and PhD in law. Currently serving as Deputy Dean (Law) since 2020 and previously Faculty Chair (2017–2020), she is a globally recognized expert in Indigenous rights, having served on UN bodies including the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Her research intersects Indigenous legal frameworks, environmental law, and AI governance.

• Education:
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Auckland
• Bachelor of Law (Honours), University of Auckland
• MBA, University of Tasmania
• LLM, University of Auckland
• PhD in Law, University of Waikato

Research Interests: Indigenous rights, Treaty of Waitangi applications, climate governance, AI’s impact on Indigenous sovereignty, and decolonizing justice systems. She has published widely on topics such as traditional knowledge protection, UN advocacy mechanisms, and hybrid legal models in criminal justice.

Professional Contributions: Reviews for journals like International Journal of Human Rights and advises the World Bank. Her 2024–2025 grant investigates the independence of Tikanga rights beyond legislation.

Labs/Teams: Engaged with interdisciplinary initiatives on Indigenous governance and technology ethics through her academic leadership roles.