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Otago Daily Times
Tuesday, 25-January 2000
Restoring faith in the justice system
By Nick Lindo
Nick Lindo is a Christchurch writer.
The axiom of all legal systems is that justice,
"not only be done but be seen to be done". That would seem not to
be the public's perception of the Kiwi version.
The drug-importing billionaire, wrist suitably smacked, name suppressed
without conviction, and after a hefty donation to a drug-rehabilitation
centre, has been prised from his super yacht overlooking the America's Cup
course and flown, presumably first class, back to the United States, from
whence he came.
A few days later, M. Ghislain Couston, a 19-year-old French student appeared
before the same Judge David Harvey on the lesser charge of sending four grams
of hashish to his girlfriend in Auckland. However, unlike his wealthy
predecessor the unfortunate French lad was convicted, fined $530, had his name
broadcast to the world at large and was given seven days to leave the
country.
Whatever mitigating and unpublished circumstances there may be to explain
this striking and very public discrepancy in the arcane workings of the
judiciary, it is, manifestly, an illustration of the law not "being seen
to be done".
No doubt the ramifications of this incident will rumble on for some time and
explanations offered, but the damage has been done and confidence in the
justice system has been further eroded at a time when its foundations over
the past few years have been shown to be flawed.
And we need not look far for further evidence of that erosion. Even as Judge
Harvey was handing down his verdicts, retired lawyer Peter Keeton was
continuing his campaign to free convicted double killer Scott Watson, on the
grounds that the case against him was not strong enough and that the jury and
the police at the time were under intense pressure to get a conviction.
Mr Keeton, with 40 years' practising experience behind him is leading one of
two groups dedicated to the same cause, the release of Scott Watson. Rightly
or wrongly, there are more than a few people who feel strongly that the
largely circumstantial evidence that led to Watson's life sentence is another
example of justice not being seen to be done.
Elsewhere, Joe Karam and his team, with enormous commitment and endless
expense, are working assiduously for the release of David Bain, whom they
believe to be wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his family. It seems
nothing will shake Mr Karam and his supporters from their conviction that
Bain is innocent and that it was his father who actually carried out the
crime.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, the convicted paedophile Peter Ellis, due for
release shortly, has vehemently, - one might almost say heroically -
protested his innocence from the day of his incarceration seven years ago. He
has gone so far as to refuse parole, arguing that such "freedom" is
offered only to criminals and as he is guilty of no crime, to accept it would
be tantamount to admitting guilt.
Led by his indefatigable mother, Lesley, he, too, has not lacked for support.
Appeals to the Governor-General have been made, television documentaries
produced and doubts cast on the veracity of the police case against him.
There are many people throughout the land who feel strongly that in the case
of Ellis, justice was again, and strikingly, not seen to be done.
And what of Arthur Alan Thomas, whose fight for justice over his wrongful
confinement for nine long years for the Crewe murders led eventually to a
free pardon and nearly a million dollars in compensation? His experience has
shown vividly that justice can easily get it wrong, whatever the weight of
evidence may seem to suggest.
When one adds to the above the "hung juries" of recent years, when
members have been unable to reach a verdict and have either been encouraged
by the judge to have another go or replaced by a fresh body of twelve to make
yet further attempts to produce a definite result, there is room for
considerable disquiet.
A thorough review of the whole issue of name suppression is well overdue. It
is a custom which to many seems not only arbitrary but also often unfair. It
is undoubtedly another underminer of the nation's faith in the impartiality
of the law.
The integrity of the justice system is fundamental to the good standing of
any nation and to the confidence of its inhabitants. Recent events suggest
that the new Justice Minister, Margaret Wilson, faces a worthwhile challenge
to restore these vital ingredients. As a former academic lawyer this is her
chance to give her learning practical effect.
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