David Bain has been given some hope of getting his compensation claim considered. He had previously hit a l;egal brick wall in Judith Collins but the new Justice Minister Amy Adams seems prepared to deal with it,
Stuff: Bain has a fresh chance for compensation
David Bain has been given fresh hope in his fight for compensation after court wranglings came to an end.
The Government and Bain’s lawyers have agreed to end judicial review proceedings over a report that suggested he was innocent of the murder of his family.
It means the decision to award him compensation for wrongful conviction and for the 13 years he spent behind bars will go back before Cabinet ministers.
Justice Minister Amy Adams announced the move this afternoon.
“This discontinuance does not resolve Mr Bain’s underlying compensation claim, just the separate judicial review process,” she said.
“I plan to discuss next steps with my Cabinet colleagues over the coming weeks.
“While the details of the agreement are confidential, I can confirm that there was no contribution made towards Mr Bain’s compensation claim as part of this discontinuance.”
Bain’s bid for redress stalled in early 2013 after a row over a report commissioned by then justice minister Judith Collins.
Written by retired Canadian judge Justice Ian Binnie, it found that Bain was innocent of the murder of his parents, brother and two sisters “on the balance of probabilities”.
Collins publicly questioned the findings and ordered a review by High Court judge Robert Fisher. Fisher pointed to errors in Binnie’s findings.
Bain’s legal team took the matter to the High Court and asked for a judicial review.
And they now seem to be making some progress.
I don’t have an opinion on whether Bain deserves compensation.
I’m not neutral on the Bain murders, but I’m uncertain. There doesn’t seem to be compeling evidence either way. And from what I’ve seen some evidence points one way and other evidence points another.
The fact is that legally Bain has been acquitted. And he’s trying to get financial redress.
If he is innocent (and that’s a distinct possibility) then he has a crap twenty years, having had the rest of his family killed or topped, copping all the blame and being locked away for years.
If he killed his family (and that’s also still a possibility) he has either got a massive cheel seeking compensation.
Or he’s been swept up in the Karam campaign and doesn’t know how to tell them to leave it now he’s at least out of prison.
I’m sure others will have views on this, many feel strongly one way or the other.