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NZ Parliament
Justice and Electoral Committee
17 September 2003
Media release
Petition of Lynley Jane Hood and Dr Don Brash and 807 others
The
committee has made a number of decisions with regard to this petition:
- It is neither our
role nor intention to inquire into Peter Ellis’ guilt or innocence. Our
function is not judicial.
- We consider that
the key issue for us to determine is whether or not the Christchurch
Civic crèche case raises concerns of sufficient significance to justify
a Royal Commission, with its concomitant resources, independence, and
expertise.
- We will initially
hear from the chief petitioners and the Ministry of Justice, and will
seek comments from both parties on each other’s submissions.
We will not rehear the case. The petition simply requests ‘the establishment of a Royal Commission
of Inquiry to inquire into the investigation and legal processes relating to
the Christchurch
Civic Creche case’. To establish if this has merit we will consider:
- whether there is a
need for any changes to police and other investigative procedures, the
law or to criminal justice processes that could justify setting up a
Royal Commission, and
- whether any such
need has been adequately addressed by the previous investigations, or
could be adequately served now by normal governmental processes or
advisers.
We also discussed the participation in the Select Committee process of
Members of Parliament who are signatories to the petition. There are no
procedural grounds upon which the committee can require any members to
disqualify themselves. Individual members must decide for themselves whether
their participation might affect the committee’s work.
The committee will report its findings to Parliament, including any
recommendations that the committee may wish to make to the Government as to
action that it should take. The Government is required to respond to any such
recommendations within 90 days of the report being presented to the House of
Representatives.
Members
Justice and Electoral Committee
Contact for further details:
Tim Barnett (Chairperson) on ( (04) 471 9999 or
Louise Sparrer, Clerk of Committee on ( (04) 471 9032 or [email protected]
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