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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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Peter Ellis suspects he
has become a "political pawn" after a long-awaited parliamentary
committee report rejected a call for a powerful commission of inquiry into
his case. The report, in response
to two petitions including one brought by author Lynley Hood and National
leader Don Brash calling for a top-level look at the case, instead makes
seven recommendations that the committee believes "are likely to do much
more to improve the standards of justice in our nation" than a further
inquiry. Mr Ellis was convicted
in 1993 of sexually molesting children at the Christchurch Civic Creche where
he worked. One of the seven he was found guilty of abusing later retracted
the allegations and three of Mr Ellis' convictions have since been quashed.
He has always maintained his innocence. Parliament's justice
and electoral select committee has been considering calls for a fresh inquiry
for two years. The 56-page report,
issued by committee chairman Labour MP Tim Barnett yesterday, says it is
unlikely that a commission of inquiry could reach a better view of the facts
than was achieved at the time. It also raises concerns
about the effect such an inquiry would have on child complainants and their
families. It recommends changes
to the Crimes Act to remove the dangers of lumping a range of charges together,
overhauling the system that handles alleged miscarriages of justice,
introducing regulations around the taking of evidential videos from children,
and that the next justice and electoral select committee consider amendments
to two laws regarding children's evidence in sexual abuse cases and the
appointment of lawyers to accused. It also suggests that
Mr Ellis be given leave to appeal to the Privy Council, an avenue previously
regarded as virtually impossible because of the length of time since his second
appeal and a 2003 law change preventing new applications. Mr Ellis said yesterday
that he was pleased about this and would discuss his next steps with his
lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC. He was also happy with
the proposed changes, but could not hide his disappointment that the
commission of inquiry was ruled out. "Don't forget that one of the
people that signed the petition was David Lange. He's a well-respected
person. Mike Moore signed it. We're not talking about nobodies that have been
concerned about the civic creche," he said. The delay in reporting
had been frustrating, and he couldn't help but wonder whether he had been
used "as a political pawn". "If there wasn't
an election coming up would they have hung on to it for another year? The Labour
Government is certainly not going to come out of it looking like a bad
egg," he said. Mr Barnett denied that
last night, saying part of the delay was due to Mr Ellis' tardy responses to
questions from the committee. He said the report was "a moving
feast" that covered several complex and important issues and could not
be rushed. Dr Brash said he was
disappointed a fresh inquiry would not be launched, and promised one would
happen under a National-led government. He could not guarantee
that it would be a commission of inquiry, but said any inquiry had to have
sufficient powers "to get to bottom of the issue once and for all".
Ms Hood did not accept
that the solutions offered eclipsed the need for a commission of inquiry. "The same people
who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of the creche case are
still investigating and prosecuting sex cases now and making the same
mistakes. "Until it's
brought home to them that they stuffed up, they are going to keep on making
the same mistakes. The past has to be faced up to if we are going to learn
from it," she said |
