SILVIA CARTWRIGHT, Governor-General
ORDER IN COUNCIL
At Wellington this 24th day of February 2003
Present:
RIGHT HONOURABLE HELEN CLARK PRESIDING IN COUNCIL
Pursuant to section 406 (a) of the Crimes Act 1961,
Her Excellency the Governor-General:
(a) acting on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council; and
(b) in the light of the background, and for the reason stated in the Schedule;
refers to the Court of Appeal the question of the five convictions of David Cullen Bain for murder entered in the High Court at Dunedin on 29 May 1995.
Schedule
1. Interpretation-In this Schedule:
"the applicant" means David Cullen Bain.
Background
2. Convictions and appeals-(1) On 29 May 1995, the applicant was convicted in the High Court at Dunedin of five counts of murder.
(2) On 19 December 1995 the Court of Appeal dismissed appeals by the applicant against his convictions on those counts.
(3) On 29 April 1996 the Privy Council dismissed an application by the applicant for leave to appeal to it against those convictions.
3. Application for exercise of mercy-On 15 June 1998 the applicant made an application for the exercise of the mercy of the Crown having reference to the convictions referred to in clause 2.
4. Reference of certain points to Court of Appeal-
(1) By an Order in Council made on 18 December 2000 under section 406 (b) of the Crimes Act 1961, the
Governor-General referred to the Court of Appeal for its opinion on certain questions arising from the application referred to in clause 3.
(2) On 17 December 2002 the Court of Appeal furnished the Governor-General with its opinions on those questions.
Reason for Reference
5. Reason-The reason for referring the question of the applicant's convictions to the Court of Appeal is that there is a possibility, warranting the reference of the question of the applicant's convictions to the Court of Appeal, that there may have been a miscarriage of justice.
MARIE SHROFF, Clerk of the Executive Council.