Cabinet approved a new Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration this week. 

Moliei Vaai, the Manager for the Civil Division of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice has been appointed to the position. 

She fills a position that has been left vacant since May when the contract of former C.E.O. Papali’i John Taimalelagi’s was terminated by the Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) following an investigation launched last August into his conduct and the handling of Court files.

Mrs. Vaai is married to Alaelua Kesi Vaai. They have four children. 

According to Mrs Vaai’s LinkedIn profile, she currently manages a team of 30 staff with three team leaders as direct reports. 

“We deal with all the civil jurisdiction work that comes through the high court with a workload of more than 2000 new cases file a year (on average)," she says on the profile. 

"We support 30 High Court Judges onsite and a diverse range of stakeholders in the justice system. They include the Legal profession, Police, Corrections units, Service providers, Professional experts, other public sector agencies.

"I report directly to the Court Manager and work closely with a local management team of 6 (Criminal Manager, Judicial Resource Manager, Support Services Manager, The Registrar).” 

Mrs. Vaai also work across New Zealand alongside managers from the Senior Courts Unit, District Courts and directly with our Wellington based National Operations Team.