Author uses Ellis case as example

Peter Ellis
Peter Ellis
A "miscarriage of justice" involving Peter Ellis highlights the need to establish a Criminal Cases Review Commission to redress other injustices in a speedier way, Dunedin author Dr Lynley Hood says.

Mr Ellis (51) served almost seven years in prison after being found guilty of 16 charges of sexual abuse of children at a civic creche in Christchurch in the early 1990s.

He has always denied the allegations and has already had three petitions for a pardon and two appeals against his conviction turned down.

An application for a Royal Commission of Inquiry was also turned down.

An England-based Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has been operating since 1997.

Another commission operates in Scotland, and Norway also has a similar system.

During a visit to New Zealand in August, English legal scholar Prof Graham Zellick QC said he believed the concept of such a commission would eventually be accepted in many other countries.

In an interview with the Otago Daily Times at the time, Prof Zellick, a former chairman of the English commission, said there was considerable support in New Zealand, including in Criminal Bar circles, for a commission to be established here also.

The English commission investigates cases, both major and minor, many of them having attracted little or no previous publicity, and refers them back to appeal courts where there is a "real possibility" a conviction would not be upheld.

The commission approach strengthened public confidence in the legal system by identifying cases in which something may have gone wrong, but did not imply any criticism of the overall justice system, Prof Zellick said.

Dr Hood, who devoted her award-winning book A City Possessed to the Ellis case, said most people, including many senior figures in the justice system, believed Mr Ellis had been wrongly convicted, but it had taken too long for justice to be done.

There were "strong arguments" in favour of introducing a criminal cases review system in New Zealand, she said.

Sir Thomas Thorp, a retired New Zealand high court judge, wrote a report which expressed misgivings about aspects of the case.

Dr Hood noted Sir Thomas had also concluded there had been a significant number of miscarriages of justice in this country.

In 2005, Sir Thomas published a book titled Miscarriages of Justice. He researched 53 applications for the Royal prerogative of mercy and found that at least 20 applicants may have been wrongly convicted.

Dr Hood said there was a reluctance in some circles to acknowledge mistakes had been made in the Ellis case, and a review body should be established to make other miscarriages of justice easier to correct.

 

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