Justice now step closer

A new independent body tasked with tackling alleged miscarriages of justice could be running by July but it won’t be based in Wellington or Auckland – in a move designed to keep it from the sway of judges.

Yesterday, Justice Minister Andrew Little introduced new legislation to Parliament to establish a Criminal Cases Review Commission. Following the model of similar bodies in Scotland and England, it would be based away from the two main centres of political and judicial power, where most judges preside. The new commission would be independent of the Justice Ministry, as a way of keeping it ‘‘at arm’s length’’ from the perception of undue influence, Little said. ‘‘There will be people in prison who should not be there ... the benefit of the commission is that it will use a more methodical and systematic approach to dealing with claims of miscarriages of justice,’’ Little said.

The commission would be accessible and remove some of the burden from applicants.

‘‘Given the resources the state puts into securing a conviction, I believe there is good reason for it to put adequate resources into correcting mistakes,’’ Little said.

The commission will review convictions and sentences where a miscarriage of justice is suspected and can refer cases to the appeal courts – but it will not determine guilt or innocence.

An official information document from Little’s office released earlier this month showed 11 people in 8 cases have been compensated for wrongful conviction since 1998 – a figure justice advocate Tim Mckinnel says is ‘‘remarkably low’’.

He said overseas research showed between 1 and 4 per cent of people were wrongly convicted.