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The 2007 annual dinner featured a keynote address by Belinda Clark (LL.M. '87), Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive, Ministry of Justice, New Zealand.
Event Pictures
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Belinda Clarke |  |
Belinda Clarke and Rita Hauser |
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Professor Weiler and Belinda Clarke |  |
Ben Gauntlett, Hauser Scholar '07; Dean Revesz; Umakanth Varottil, Hauser Scholar '07; Niamh Dunne, Hauser Scholar '07; Nadja Jaisli, Hauser Scholar '07; and Rita Hauser |
Biographical Information
For the past five years Belinda has been New Zealand's Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice. When she was appointed at the age of 43 she was one of the youngest public service chief executive appointments to have been made. The Ministry is responsible for administering New Zealand's courts, advising the government on criminal justice and on public and civil legal policy, administering parliamentary elections, negotiating Treaty claims with indigenous Maori groups, collecting fines and leading the justice sector (which includes the Police and Prison Services).
The Ministry has 2,700 staff working at 103 locations throughout New Zealand. Its operating budget is around $NZ800 million. As part of the policy and legal advice function, the Ministry was responsible for almost 100 Bills in the past three years.
Prior to joining the Ministry, Belinda was the General Manager of Policy and Planning at the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for three years. Before that she was the first Director of the Office of Treaty Settlements and oversaw the settlements of the first two major claims by indigenous tribes.
Belinda has a background in commercial law, and worked for Australasian law firm Minter Ellison before going to ACC. She has a LLB (Hons) and a BA from the University of Auckland and graduated with a LLM in International Legal Studies from New York University in 1987.
During the 1980s Belinda was a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During that time she was posted to the United Nations in New York for four years where she was New Zealand's representative to human rights and legal committees.