Inquiry into sex abuse victims' name leak
An inquiry headed by a Queen's Counsel has been launched into the Justice Ministry's role in publishing two sexual abuse victims' names.
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An inquiry headed by a Queen's Counsel has been launched into the Justice Ministry's role in publishing two sexual abuse victims' names.
Two brothers were named on the Ministry of Justice's website when their abuser's sentencing notes were posted online last Thursday. The document was removed the following day, when the error was discovered.
Justice Minister Simon Power said John Marshall QC would examine what part the Justice Ministry played in the publication on the Judicial Decisions Online website.
"Mr Marshall will look at the circumstances surrounding the publication of the names contained in judicial decisions, and report back to me with regard to any changes that could be made to the ministry's procedures to prevent this happening again," Mr Power said.
"The inquiry will not review the processes for how judges note and mark their decisions for distribution -- that's a matter for the Chief High Court Judge -- but it will look at how the ministry processes judicial decisions before putting them on to the internet."
Mr Power has previously stated that it was the responsibility of the judge to instruct the ministry about any suppression orders.
He expects the inquiry to take several weeks.
Mr Marshall is a Queen's Counsel in Wellington, practising in arbitration, mediation, and civil litigation. He was president of the New Zealand Law Society from 2007 to 2010 and is now the Chief Commissioner at the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
Mr Power said on Monday he was horrified by the incident.
The abuse happened 20 years ago and involved the offender, aged under 17 and a sexual abuse victim himself, regularly abusing the boys near a rural swimming hole.
He was this month sentenced to four years' jail on eight counts of sexual violation of a boy under 12 and five counts of indecent assault or inducing an indecent act.
NZPA
Wed, 16 Feb 2011
Wed, 16 Feb 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
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Inquiry into sex abuse victims' name leak
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