Breach of natural justice alleged in extradition decision
Former Catholic brother Bernard Kevin McGrath is alleging breaches of natural justice in the decision by former Justice Minister Judith Collins to allow his extradition to Australia on child sex charges.
Australian authorities are seeking 65-year-old McGrath’s extradition to face 252 child sex abuse charges there.
McGrath returned to Christchurch from overseas when the charges were first laid and he has been living here while the legal process has involved the Christchurch District Court, the High Court, and then a referral to the minister’s office.
It has now returned to the High Court at Christchurch for a judicial review hearing before Justice Cameron Mander, to challenge the minister’s decision to allow his extradition.
Suppression orders cover many details of the charges and McGrath’s background, and there is a continuing ban on publication of pictures of him.
Defence counsel Philip Allan said the judicial review related to allegations of breaches of natural justice. He said this concerned the failure of the Ministry of Justice to obtain further information about McGrath’s circumstances and the limited support he had available to him. McGrath had put in an affidavit about the support he had in New Zealand, but he had no support available in Australia.
Efforts had been made to find out about the Australian legal aid system, which was quite different to the New Zealand system, and included caps on spending on cases. “The Minister has erred in simply saying, ‘Because there’s a legal aid system in Australia, I don’t need to look further into that matter in ordering Mr McGrath’s extradition’,” he said.
He submitted that McGrath would be in a situation where he would have no emotional support, no financial support, and questions concerning the funding of the defence. He was critical of the Ministry of Justice for providing submissions to the Minister without providing them to the defence so that they could be commented on or extra information provided.
Counsel for the Ministry of Justice, Mark Lillico said natural justice was shaped byh the particular statutory process involved. In this case there was a truncated extradition process which normally did not involve a ministerial decision.
“It is supposed to be streamlined,” he said. There was little risk of unfairness because he had control of his own case, and he had put forward matters relevant to him, in his submission to the minister.
At the end of the half-day hearing, Justice Mander reserved his decision.
Category: News
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