The Human Rights Commission (HRC) is urging the government to scrap its planned amendment of Te Tiriti o Waitangi clauses, warning it could create more confusion and deepen division.

In a submission published on Tuesday, the Commission said the government's proposals were "constitutionally regressive" and risked weakening Treaty protections.

In May, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the coalition would change or remove references to the Treaty of Waitangi in 19 pieces of legislation "in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance".

But HRC Indigenous Governance Partner Dayle Takitimu said it would have the opposite effect.

"The government said it wants clarity, but many Māori, legal experts, the Waitangi Tribunal, the Human Rights Commission, and international bodies say the review risks doing the opposite: weakening protections, reducing accountability, and increasing conflict.

"Achieving clarity - if that is the aim of the exercise - doesn't require watering down obligations to the bare minimum.

"Certainty and clarity are better achieved by following agreed human rights standards which support honouring treaties and respecting Indigenous peoples' human rights."

The Commission concluded that the government's plan downgraded Te Tiriti obligations and was "likely to increase, not reduce, uncertainty and litigation risk."

The changes risked intensifying racial tension and harming Crown-Māori relations, it said.

It also criticised the review, which recommended the changes, saying Māori had not been properly consulted throughout.

The review was secured by New Zealand First during coalition negotiations with National after the last election.

The Commission called on the government to abandon its changes and instead work with Māori on any replacement.

"Te Tiriti is not a side issue or a drafting inconvenience; it is part of the constitutional and human rights foundation of Aotearoa," Takitimu said.

In a statement, Goldsmith said the coalition did not agree or accept that its actions amount to "lowering the threshold of Treaty obligations".

In May, the government announced it would remove references to the Treaty principles in seven pieces of legislation.

Another 10 would be watered down, and two made "more specific".

At the time, Goldsmith said iwi would be consulted, and all New Zealanders could have their say through the select committee process.

"Over the last 30 or 40 years, Parliament has made all sorts of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Sometimes it's 'honour', or 'have regard to', or 'give effect to', or 'take into account'," Goldsmith said.

"We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance. A core foundation of our success as a nation is predictability in the law."