Charles
CHAUVEL
Justice Spokesperson
12 December 2012

Comment On Justice Binnie Report Release

Labour’s Justice spokesperson Charles Chauvel says Justice Minister Judith Collins’ concession that she is now considering showing Justice Binnie’s report to David Bain’s lawyers, and that the report is likely to be published, along with the ‘peer review’ that she has commissioned, is encouraging.

“The sooner we all see the report, in order to judge the fairness of Judith Collins’ report for ourselves, the better.

“But in light of her answers to questions about the ‘peer review’ we can have little confidence in the outcome of that exercise, given the Minister’s vagueness about its terms of reference and the documents supplied to the ‘peer reviewer’.

“Justice Binnie, in his media statement this morning from Geneva, points out the problems of not ensuring that ‘peer reviewer’ Mr Fisher QC has all material before him, given to the Minister, that is critical of the report. Judith Collins was vague about whether this has happened, and vague about the terms of reference upon which Mr Fisher was commissioned to carry out his review.

“Whether Mr Fisher’s ‘peer review’ has any value whatsoever is completely dependent on the terms on which the review has been requested, and the access that he has been given to officials’ advice that has led Judith Collins to be so critical of Justice Binnie’s report.

“That information should be released immediately so that the public can assess the adequacy of this latest Government-commissioned exercise.

labour.org.nz

ENDS

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