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Allegations
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Wellington: New Zealand
lawyers are leaping to the defence of the New Zealand judicial system after
it was criticised by an Australian judge on Friday. In the Federal Court in
Sydney, Justice Rodney Madgwick ruled against the extradition of two Catholic
brothers accused of sexually abusing young boys at a Christchurch school in
the 1970s. Father Raymond Garchow
(59) and Brother Roger Moloney (71) face allegations of sexually abusing boys
as young as 8 between 1966 and 1979 at the Marylands Special School in
Christchurch. Garchow faces four charges, and the other man 28. Justice Madgwick said
it would be unjust or oppressive to send the two members of the St John of
God Order back to face trial given the differences between the two countries’
legal systems and the delay in bringing the allegations. He ruled that the
differences in the New Zealand and Australian legal systems, and the length
of time since the alleged crimes, would make it difficult for the men to
receive a fair trial. On account of that . .
. that delay in bringing the allegations to the attention of the applicants
would make it, as it seems to me, unjust or oppressive to surrender them. Such trials would occur
without the guarantee of a strong warning by the judge to the jury as to the
very real problems in meeting such old allegations. In Australia, the
applicants would have such a guarantee. Australian courts would not permit
any such trial to occur without such a warning being given, however serious
the charges. Last year, a Local
Court magistrate in Sydney ordered that the two men be extradited to New
Zealand, but the men asked the Federal Court to review that decision. Criminal lawyer John
Miller told The New Zealand Herald it was a nonsense to say there was such a
difference between the judicial systems. The very nature of
these types of cases is that they are going to be historical. The judge would
direct the jury accordingly. I would think they would get a fair trial. Mr Miller said the New
Zealand judicial system had a good reputation internationally. These comments are
equating us to a banana republic. They are frankly out of touch. The president of the
Canterbury Criminal Bar Association, James Rapley, told The Press there
seemed to be an implied criticism of the New Zealand legal system. The judge saying they
would not get a fair trial is most unusual. It was common for such
sexual abuse cases to be years old. Wellington lawyer John
Langford said the countries had similar legal systems. It
is quite bizarre to suggest that these people would not receive a fair trial
in New Zealand, he said. |
