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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-13 Daily Xml
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WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (14:56): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Attorney-General questions about prevention of wrongful convictions.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON: Yesterday, I returned from Perth, where I attended the first ever International Justice Conference organised by JusticeWA, a relatively new non-political, non-government organisation dedicated to the correction and prevention of miscarriages of justice.

The International Justice Conference was well attended, with delegates and speakers attending from around Australia, New Zealand, America, Great Britain and Canada, amongst other places, including prominent exonerees such as Ms Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, Mr Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, Mr Chris Ochoa, Mr David Bain, Mr Graham Stafford, Mr John Button, Mr Andrew Mallard, and the most recent to have his conviction overturned, Mr Gordon Wood.

Delegates and speakers alike heard of harrowing tales of how our justice system failed exonerees and their supporters. From their stories and the opinions of forensic professionals who also spoke, key themes and causes of wrongful convictions became evident. These included the use of flawed, be it deliberate or otherwise, forensic science (known as junk science); investigating police officers identifying a key suspect to the exclusion of others and often exculpatory evidence, referred to as 'investigative tunnel vision'; media pressure for a conviction; inadequate defence representation; and almost universally the failure of the prosecution to fully disclose all evidence, including in many cases plainly exculpatory evidence.

Their stories also revealed why for many it took years, if not decades, to have their convictions set aside: the refusal by the police, the prosecution, forensic experts and the respective attorneys-general to admit that they got it wrong. On the final day of the conference, delegates heard from a panel of speakers, including prominent exonerees, defence barristers, academics and myself, who collectively called for the establishment of a criminal cases review commission. My questions are:

1. When were the rules of disclosure by the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions last reviewed?

2. Given that evidence withheld from the defence was identified at this conference as a key cause of wrongful convictions, will the Attorney-General undertake a review of the rules of disclosure to ensure that the state is not withholding evidence of the accused's innocence?

3. Given the number of wrongful convictions identified from around Australia and other places, and lessons learnt at that International Justice Conference as to their causes, does the Attorney-General concede that wrongful convictions must have occurred in South Australia, or is the Attorney-General of the belief, like his predecessor seemed to be, that South Australia is the only jurisdiction in the entire Western world that does not have wrongful convictions?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for her important questions. I will refer those questions to the Attorney-General in another place and bring back a response.

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