For the past 4 years Belinda has been Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive
of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry is responsible for administering New
Zealand’s courts, advising the government on criminal justice and public law
policy, running elections, negotiating Treaty claims, collecting of fines and
coordinating the justice sector. As part of the policy and legal advice
function, the Ministry was responsible for almost 100 Bills in the past three
years.
The Ministry has 2,700 staff working at 103 locations throughout New Zealand.
Prior to joining the Ministry, Belinda was the General Manager of Policy and
Planning at the ACC for three years. Before that she was the first Director of
the Office of Treaty Settlements and oversaw the settlements with Tainui and
Ngai Tahu.
Belinda has a background in commercial law, and worked for law firm Rudd Watts
and Stone (now Minter Ellison) before going to ACC. She has a LLB (Hons) and a
BA from the University of Auckland and a LLM in International Law from New York
University.
During the 1980s Belinda was a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade. During that time she and was posted to the United Nations in New York
for 4 years where she was New Zealand’s representative to human rights and
legal committees.
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