Good morning Mr Francis,

Acknowledging your request for information under the Official Information Act 1982. You can expect a response to your request on or before 1 May 2018.

Kind regards,
Claire

Claire O'Connor
Advisor | Official Correspondence
Communications
Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture

-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Francis [mailto:[FOI #7552 email]]
Sent: Monday, 2 April 2018 9:42 p.m.
To: correspondence, official <[Ministry of Justice request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Communication about establishing a Criminal Cases Review Commission

Dear Ministry of Justice,

In November 2017, the Justice Ministry provided a briefing paper to the new Government. The briefing paper was entitled Establishing a Criminal Cases Review Commission. At paragraph 16 of that briefing paper, the Justice Ministry says that “several jurisdictions have established a CCRC, including the United Kingdom, Scotland and Norway. These models provide valuable experience to draw upon in considering the design of a CCRC for New Zealand”.

According to the Justice Ministry, and including information held in the minds of officials, what jurisidictions (if any) have recommended that a friend of the trial judge be appointed to investigate any application to the CCRC? Have there been any discussions within the Ministry as to whether a friend of the trial judge should, or should be able to, be appointed to investigate any application to the proposed CCRC? Please provide me with all records about any such discussions, including all information held in the minds of officials, about what (if any) criteria could or should be appl when considering the selection of appointments to the CCRC.

What criteria (if any) does the Ministry use when recommending appointments to an inquiry? Please provide me with all records held by the Ministry regarding the criteria (if any) used by officials to decide upon Sir Thomas Eichelbaum as it's preferred chair of the ministerial inquiry into the Peter Ellis case. (Eichelbaum had nothing but praise for Justice Neil Williamson – the Ellis trial judge – when, in 1997, he delivered the Inaugural Neil Williamson Memorial Lecture. He said of his late friend and colleague: “He conducted many of the most difficult trials of his time, and he did so impeccably…Neil was much more than an outstanding Judge…[he was] an exceptional human being”. Eichelbaum also referred to Williamson as a "model" judge.)

Please provide me with all records held by the Ministry, including information held in the minds of officials, regarding communication between officials and the Justice Minister (and between officials and the Associate Justice Ministers) regarding the establishment of a CCRC. This request covers the period 19 October 2017 to 28 February 2018 (inclusive).

Yours faithfully,

Ross Francis

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Good afternoon Mr Francis

 

Please find attached a response to your OIA request regarding the Criminal
Case Review Commission.

 

Regards

 

 

   

[1]Description: Description: Description: Antony Paltridge
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Team Leader (Media and
External Relations) |
Communication Services
DDI: +64 4 918 8980

[2]www.justice.govt.nz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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privileged. If you have received it by mistake, please:
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Dear Mr Francis

 

Please find below further information from the Chief Legal Counsel, Jeff
Orr, in response to your Official Information Act request.

 

Regards

 

Antony

 

 

   

[1]Description: Description: Description: Antony Paltridge
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Team Leader (Media and
External Relations) |
Communication Services
DDI: +64 4 918 8980

[2]www.justice.govt.nz

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Mr Francis

 

We refer to the Ministry’s letter to you of 18 April 2018, in response to
your Official Information Act 1982 (“the Act”) request of 2 April 2018. As
advised in that letter, there are two further parts of your request (set
out in italics below) which require a separate response.

 

What criteria (if any) does the Ministry use when recommending
appointments to an inquiry?

 

The Ministry does not hold any information regarding “criteria" for
recommending appointments to non-statutory ministerial inquiries.
Accordingly, I am refusing this part of your request under s 18(g) of the
Act as we do not hold information relevant to your request, and have no
grounds for believing the information is held by, or more closely
connected to the functions of, another department or Minister.

 

I note that general information about inquiries, including non-statutory
ministerial inquiries, can be found on the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet’s website (accessible here -
[3]https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-un...),
and the Department of Internal Affairs’ website (accessible here -
[4]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Public-and-Gover...).

 

Please provide me with all records held by the Ministry regarding the
criteria (if any) used by officials to decide upon Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
as it’s preferred chair of the ministerial inquiry into the Peter Ellis
case. (Eichelbaum had nothing but praise for Justice Neil Williamson – the
Ellis trial judge – when, in 1997, he delivered the Inaugural Neil
Williamson Memorial Lecture. He said of his late friend and colleague: “He
conducted many of the most difficult trials of his time, and he did so
impeccably…Neil was much more than an outstanding Judge…[he was] an
exceptional human being”. Eichelbaum also referred to Williamson as a
“model” judge.)

 

Between 2006 and 2008 we provided you with all information we held
relating to Sir Thomas Eichelbaum's appointment to the Ministerial Inquiry
into the Peter Ellis case. We do not hold any further information over and
above what we have already released to you.  

 

For completeness, I refer to a previous complaint you made to the
Ombudsman’s office in 2008 regarding the Ministry’s response to a request
you made on 6 August 2008 about the appointment of Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
to the Ministerial Inquiry into the Peter Ellis case. The Ombudsman’s
investigation concluded that the Ministry released all of the information
it held relating to Sir Thomas’ appointment to the Ministerial Inquiry to
you, and that the Ministry did not hold any further information over and
above that already released.

 

Accordingly, we are refusing this part of your request under s 18(g) of
the Act on the grounds that we hold no further information relevant to
your request and have no grounds for believing the information is held by,
or more closely connected to the functions of, another department or
Minister. In these circumstances, I am also refusing this part of your
request under s 18(h) of the Act on the basis that your repeated requests
for information relating to Sir Thomas Eichelbaum’s appointment to the
Ministerial Inquiry is vexatious. 

 

Regards

 

Jeff Orr

Chief Legal Counsel

Ministry of Justice

 

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Thank you.

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References

Visible links
2. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
3. https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-un...
4. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Public-and-Gover...

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