(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, any lessee holding under any subsisting lease which contains a provision conferring on him a right to compensation for improvements may, if his lease expires at any time before the 1st day of April 1955, give notice in writing to the Maori Trustee at any time before the 1st day of March 1955, to the effect that he elects to have his rights determined in accordance with the terms of his lease.
(2) Any lessee holding under any such subsisting lease which expires after the 31st day of March 1955, may give notice in writing to the Maori Trustee to the like effect at any time within 3 months prior to the date of the expiration of his lease:
Provided that the lessee shall not be required to give any notice under this subsection before the 1st day of March 1955.
(3) The Maori Trustee may, within the time prescribed in subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, as the case may require, give notice in writing to the lessee holding under any such subsisting lease that he requires the rights of the lessee to be determined in accordance with the terms of his lease.
(4) Within 2 months after the date of the receipt by the Maori Trustee of any notice given to him by the lessee under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, or within 2 months after the date of the receipt by the lessee of any notice given by the Maori Trustee under subsection (3) of this section, the Maori Trustee or the lessee shall, by notice in writing to the lessee or to the Maori Trustee, as the case may require, indicate whether or not he is agreeable to a determination of the lessee's rights in accordance with the terms of the lease. If the Maori Trustee or the lessee, as the case may require, fails to give notice in accordance with the provisions of this subsection within the time limited in that behalf, he shall be deemed to have agreed to a determination of the lessee's rights in accordance with the terms of his lease.
(5) If, in accordance with the provisions of this section, the Maori Trustee and the lessee agree to a determination of the lessee's rights in accordance with his lease, the lessee's right to compensation shall be deemed to be extinguished unless within 6 months after the date of the expiration of his lease, or within such extended period, not exceeding 6 months, as the Maori Land Court may allow, the lessee has applied to the Maori Land Court for an order charging the amount of any unpaid compensation on the land and for the appointment of a receiver for the purpose of enforcing the charge.
(6) The Maori Land Court shall have jurisdiction to make a charging order and to appoint a receiver under subsection (5) of this section, and the provisions of section 83 of Te Ture Whenua Maori (Maori Land) Act 1993 shall apply to any receiver so appointed.
(7) Where, pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, the Maori Trustee and the lessee agree to a determination of the lessee's rights in accordance with his lease, any appointment of a valuer, arbitrator, or umpire theretofore made, or any valuation or arbitration theretofore completed or undertaken, or any order made by the Maori Land Court creating a charge on the land for the value of improvements or appointing a receiver, shall, notwithstanding that the lease may have been extended by statute or otherwise, and notwithstanding that the appointment, valuation, arbitration, or order was made before the commencement of this Act, subsist for the purpose for which it was made unless the Maori Trustee and the lessee otherwise agree. Where the Maori Trustee and the lessee otherwise agree, the appointment, valuation, arbitration, or order, as the case may require, shall become null and void, and the Maori Land Court, on application made to it in that behalf, may cancel any order made by it in the premises.
(8) Before giving any notice to any lessee under subsection (3) of this section or before making, under section 8 of this Act, any arrangement or agreement with any lessee for the settlement or discharge of the lessee's rights otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Maori Trustee shall, so far as is practicable, ascertain the wishes of the beneficial owners of the land affected by the lease and shall act in accordance with those wishes.
(9) Where any subsisting lease is subject to a mortgage, no agreement for the determination of the lessee's rights in accordance with the terms of his lease shall be made under this section without the consent of the mortgagee.
The reference to section 83 of Te Ture Whenua Maori (Maori Land) Act 1993 in subsection (6) was substituted, as from 1 July 1993, for a reference to section 33 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 pursuant to section 363(2) Te Ture Whenua Maori (Maori Land) Act 1993 (1993 No 4).