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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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The lawyer for
convicted sex offender Peter Ellis says any inquiry into the Civic Creche case
must take the form of a full Commission of Inquiry. National leader Don
Brash made the promise of an inquiry last week in an email to
Christchurch-based Ellis supporter, music tutor Richard Christie. However he did not
specify what kind of inquiry National would support and then the party's
justice spokesman Richard Worth suggested it could be one undertaken by an
overseas judge. But Ellis' lawyer
Judith Ablett-Kerr today said that would not be enough. She said she had
petitioned the Governor-General on three occasions since 1997 for a
Commission of Inquiry and the 1999 decision of the Court of Appeal suggested
such a course. The power to summons
witnesses and compel evidence would be a vital part of any satisfactory
inquiry into the Ellis case, she said. "Any inquiry must
have the powers of a Commission of Inquiry otherwise such an exercise is
likely to be a waste of public money." The Ministerial Inquiry
ordered by Justice Minister Phil Goff in 2000 did not have those powers and
failed to address the issues that caused concern for the public, she said. Two years ago the
National Party leader and Dunedin MP Katherine Rich started a petition
calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the child-abuse convictions of
creche worker Ellis. A justice select
committee is considering what kind of inquiry should be held into Ellis's
case and is expected to announce its findings before the election. Ellis was
controversially convicted in the 1990s, partly on the basis of several
contested testimonies from very young children. |
