David Bain's lawyer is "disappointed" that a judicial review into Justice Minister Judith Collins' handling of his high-profile client's compensation case will not be heard until next year.
Mr Bain was convicted in 1995 of murdering his Dunedin family and spent 13 years in jail before he was acquitted in a 2009 retrial.
He is seeking compensation for his wrongful imprisonment.
A report by former Canadian Justice Ian Binnie found that on the balance of probabilities, Mr Bain was innocent of murdering his parents, two sisters and brother in Dunedin in 1994 and had been wrongfully imprisoned.
Last year Mr Bain's lawyer, Michael Reed QC, announced he was seeking a judicial review of how Ms Collins handled the Binnie report.
In February 2013 Cabinet agreed to a request from Mr Bain to put the compensation bid on hold until the judicial review had been heard.
Last month Ms Collins' office told the Otago Daily Times the substantive hearing could be held later this year.
But now, APNZ has been told that the case, to be heard in the High Court at Auckland, has been delayed again.
"We've been told they can't fit in a date this year, which is a pity, and they're looking at a date of February 9 next year. I'm hoping to get confirmation in the next few days," said Mr Reed.
"It's disappointing. We would've liked it this year, obviously. But we can't apparently - the court is too busy."
APNZ today revealed that Mr Bain's wife Liz, who he married in Christchurch in January, is pregnant with their first child.
Long-time Bain supporter Joe Karam said he was "absolutely delighted" for the couple.
But the former All Black said the "very special occasion" would be even sweeter if Ms Collins "had respected the will of the nation and honoured the report commissioned by her government in settling David's compensation claim".
Mr Karam was referring to the three polls conducted in February and March last year which showed a two-to-one majority in favour of Mr Bain receiving compensation.
- By Kurt Bayer of APNZ
