Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which begins operations on 1 July. Together with Chief Commissioner Colin Carruthers QC, they will form the inaugural board.
Paula Rose QSO OStJ has been appointed Deputy Chief Commissioner for a five-year term from 15 July 2020. Ms Rose is a current member of the Parole Board and has worked in a range of governance roles. She is a Commissioner for the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, member of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, Deputy Chair of WorkSafe New Zealand and director of several non-governmental organisations including St John South Island Regional Trust Board. Her experience in criminal justice comes from her work at New Zealand Police, including as National Manager Road Policing.
Kingi Snelgar has been appointed a Commissioner for a five-year term from 15 June 2020. An Auckland barrister operating from Manukau Chambers, he was admitted in May 2011 and worked at Meredith Connell as a criminal prosecutor. Mr Snelgar completed a Masters of Law at Harvard Law School as a Fulbright Scholar, was a judge’s clerk and research fellow in the United States and was a human rights observer at Standing Rock. He has whakapapa to Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatohea and Ngāi Tahu and is a counsel to assist the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care.
Tangi Utikere JP has been appointed a Commissioner for a four-year term from 15 June 2020. Mr Utikere is Deputy Mayor of Palmerston North. He has worked as a Judicial Justice of the Peace and as a Visiting Justice. Mr Utikere has been Secretary and Treasurer of the Pacific Leaders Council and a member of the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs’ Advisory Council. He is also a Panellist and Appeals Tribunal Member for the Judicial Control Authority for Racing, Commissioner for Resource Management Act Hearings and a member of the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.
Nigel Hampton CNZM OBE QC has been appointed a Commissioner for a three-year term from 15 June 2020. Admitted in February 1965, Mr Hampton became a Queen’s Counsel in 1989. He was Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga, was the first Disciplinary Commissioner of Counsel in the International Criminal Court and currently is Presiding Member of the Disciplinary Board for the International Criminal Court counsel. He is an instructor in litigation skills in New Zealand, Tonga and Sāmoa, and an author for Adams on Criminal Law.
Professor Tracey McIntosh (Ngāi Tūhoe) has been appointed a Commissioner for a four-year term from 15 June 2020. She is a Professor of Indigenous Studies and Co-Head of Te Wānanga o Waipapa at the University of Auckland. Dr McIntosh is also currently the Chief Science Advisor for the Ministry of Social Development. She has carried out extensive research on the experience of Māori and Indigenous people with the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on incarceration. Her research focuses on social harm reduction, increasing collective wellbeing and disrupting the intergenerational transmission of social inequalities.
Dr Virginia Hope MNZM has been appointed a Commissioner for a three-year term from 15 June 2020. She is Medical Director Health Group at ESR. Early in her career she served as a Medical Officer of Health (Environmental Health) at Auckland Regional Public Health Service and then became Manager (Environmental Health). Before working in public health she worked for the Auckland Area Health Board, and she has also worked in universities and research institutes.
Mr Little has also announced that the Chief Commissioner, Colin Carruthers QC, who was appointed for an 18-month term from 1 February 2020, has had his appointment extended until June 2024. This aligns his appointment with the other Commissioner appointments.