Meet our people

Tāhū o te Ture – the Ministry of Justice is made up of passionate, enthusiastic people all working towards our vision of a safe and just Aotearoa New Zealand. Take a look at the videos below to meet some of our people and find out why they think our Ministry is a great place to work.

Operations and Service Delivery, Courts and Tribunals, Regional Service Delivery

Our Operations and Service Delivery teams are responsible for the successful operation of our New Zealand Courts. Our teams liaise with multiple stakeholders who are interacting with the justice system, including members of the judiciary. Our teams operate across the country wherever courts and/or tribunals are located.

Meet Vincent, Amber and Fiona and hear about their work in our courts.

Check out the rest of our website to find out more about our courts and tribunals.

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Executive and administration roles

We have executive and administration roles across the whole Ministry of Justice. These roles support our people and the Ministry to succeed.

Aaron, Jasmine and Christina play important roles supporting a range of projects across the Ministry. Hear what makes their work so interesting.

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Court Security Officer

Our Court Security Officers (CSOs) make up our uniformed frontline team based across all our court sites. Team members are recruited, trained and supported by our technical security experts to help them be an effective and reassuring physical security presence at our courts and places of work.

Catjana’s passionate about the difference she gets to make every day by working as a Court Security Officer in our courts.

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Team Leader, Court Security

Ed leads a team of Court Security Officers who work hard to keep our courts safe. Listen to his story.

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The Public Defence Service

The Public Defence Service (PDS) is an independent criminal law practice providing excellent service to our clients for a just Aotearoa New Zealand. Our Public Defence Team provides legal advice and representation to defendants who are granted legal aid in criminal cases. They also oversee the duty lawyer services in some of our courts.

Our PDS team is the largest criminal law practice in Aotearoa New Zealand, with over 150 criminal defence lawyers in 10 offices(external link) across the country.

Meet some of the team from our country’s largest criminal law practice.

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Policy Group

Our Policy Group undertakes policy analysis to provide advice to Government that helps shape justice and constitutional policies and achieve ministerial priorities.

Serge is a Senior Policy Advisor. He’s working at our Ministry to make a difference and is passionate about helping to shape the future direction of justice policy.

Meet Serge and hear what he has to say about working at our Ministry.

Read more about the work the Policy Group does here:

Justice Sector & Policy

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The Waitangi Tribunal and Te Kāhui Whakatau (Treaty Settlements) ICT Services

The Waitangi Tribunal and Te Kāhui Whakatau (Treaty Settlements) support Māori and facilitate claims brought by Māori relating to legislation, policies, actions or omissions of the Crown that are alleged to breach the promises made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi).

The Waitangi Tribunal is a standing commission of inquiry and makes recommendations on claims brought by Māori. Where Te Kāhui Whakatau (Treaty Settlements), which is part of The Office for Māori Crown Relations - Te Arawhiti(external link), negotiates the settlement of historical Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) claims. This includes advising and helping claimant groups to prepare for entering into negotiations.

Meet some of the team from the Te Kāhui Whakatau (Treaty Settlements) and the Waitangi Tribunal.

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ICT Services

Our ICT Services provide a wide range of support to the Ministry of Justice to achieve its work. The team looks after the overall performance of the Ministry’s service domains, including design, delivery, maintenance and support of ICT products and services.

The ICT Services teams supports the effective management and use of data and information to enable better services. It also ensures that ICT security risk across our Ministry is understood and well managed.

Meet Tina Wakefield, Deputy Secretary Corporate & ICT Services, and some of the ICT team members.

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Customer Service Representative

Our Centralised Calling Service team provides a professional, reliable telephone service for our Ministry customers. They largely deal with enquiries relating to our courts, tribunals and special jurisdictions. The team’s objective is to deliver simple, accessible, easy to understand and accurate information quickly to customers every day.

Meet and listen to some of our Contact Centre team talk about their role and why they enjoy working for our Ministry.

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