A good move by Little

The Herald reports:

The Government has moved to establish an independent body tasked with addressing miscarriages of justice.

Justice Minister Andrew Little has introduced a bill to the House which would establish a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) – an independent body for addressing miscarriages of justice.

Good to see them follow through on this. The legal system does get it wrong sometimes and an independent commission is a better option than the current process of Ministerial review.

Currently, if a person who has been convicted of an offence believes they have suffered a miscarriage of justice, they may apply to the Governor-General for the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy.

If this bill is passed, the CCRC would refer cases back to the appeal courts. It would not, however, determine guilt or innocence.

Again, sounds good.