‘Convicted double murderer Scott Watson will have his case investigated by an initiative set up to challenge suspected miscarriages of justice.
The New Zealand Public Interest Panel (NZPIP) will launch on June 13, as a joint initiative between the University of Canterbury and a high-powered panel of experts.
…Justice Minister Amy Adams was critical of the NZPIP and its members, saying self-initiated review groups were “no substitute for an impartial judicial-level review and its findings carry no legal weight”. (bold mine kg)
“I note that many of the people involved in the panel have been advocates for the defence in many high-profile cases, which could lead to perceptions that the panel reviews may not be impartial,” she said.
She had confidence in the system’s ability to rectify miscarriages of justice.’
Well, Amy Adams, we’d all like to have “confidence in the system’s ability to rectify miscarriages of justice”. But very many of us have no confidence in the system’s ability to deliver justice in the first place, let alone rectify the results of cock-ups and corruption and cronyism.
And to get to your “impartial judicial-level review” we first need impartial judicial-level justice.