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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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National Party leader
Don Brash has supported a call for an independent body to identify miscarriages
of justice. He was commenting on a
report by retired High Court judge Sir Thomas Thorp, which said up to 20
people may be wrongly imprisoned in New Zealand. Sir Thomas has called
for an independent authority to be set up to identify miscarriages of
justice. The recommendation
follows a two-year study of the nature and incidence of miscarriages of
justice, and the way New Zealand and comparable countries deal with such
claims. Sir Thomas looked into
the Peter Ellis Christchurch creche case for the Government. Dr Brash and National
MP Katherine Rich supported the call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into
the Ellis case in 2003, and attracted support from 11 law professors and two
former Prime Ministers for the inquiry. "It is cases like
the Peter Ellis case that highlight the need for an independent body with the
resources and authority to investigate possible miscarriages of
justice," Dr Brash said. "It is critical
that the public have complete confidence in our legal system. The Ellis case
cast doubt in people's minds. "An independent
authority would take steps towards alleviating the public's concerns." Sir Thomas said
"up to a score" of New Zealand inmates might be wrongly jailed. Analysis of 53
applications to the Justice Ministry claimed miscarriages of justice from
1995 to 2002, he revealed. Of these, he
classified: ·
26 per cent as "raising issues that clearly required
careful investigation". ·
16 per cent were "plainly without merit". ·
58 per cent had "sufficient potential to require some
further investigation". Sir Thomas' report,
titled Miscarriages of Justice, has been published by the Legal Research
Foundation, a non-profit body associated with Auckland University's law
faculty. Counsel for Ellis,
Judith Ablett Kerr, QC, said the proposal for an independent authority to
look at possible miscarriages of justice looked extremely interesting. "It's something
I've been pushing for several years, not just in relation to the Ellis
case." |
