26 May 2002
Justice Minister Phil Goff will introduce an amendment to the Crimes Act which will prevent instances where people can
literally get away with murder.
The change has been approved by Cabinet and will be introduced as part of a Criminal Procedure Bill to be brought into
Parliament next year.
The amendment will create an exception to the ‘double jeopardy’ rule. Under the current law a person who has been
finally acquitted, convicted or pardoned for an offence cannot be tried again for the same offence.
“The change to the law will allow a re-trial where someone is convicted of an offence against the administration of
justice (such as conspiracy to defeat the course of justice or perjury) which led to the person’s acquittal on an
earlier criminal charge.
“The amendment was supported in a Law Commission report last year. The report was in response to the case of gang
member, Kevin Moore, who was unable to be retried for murder after his acquittal on his first trial because of false
evidence by a witness, who he had organised to lie on his behalf.
“Moore quite literally got away with murder.
“Leaving the law as it is would risk bringing the justice system into public contempt. It would also provide
encouragement for those accused of serious offences to commit perjury or otherwise pervert the course of justice.
“The general rule against double jeopardy is a long-standing aspect of our law and an important protection against the
possibility that the State could repeatedly bring the same charges against an individual previously acquitted of those
charges.
“However the ‘double jeopardy’ protection was never designed to protect an individual who deliberately perverted the
course of justice both to avoid conviction and to avoid ever being able to be held to account for the crime again.
“To secure a retrial, the prosecution will need to satisfy a High Court judge that it was more likely than not that the
offence against the administration of justice was a significant contributing factor in their earlier acquittal.
“This law change will ensure that the sort of miscarriage of justice in the Moore case will not happen again and will
help promote greater public confidence in our system of justice,” said Mr Goff.
Ends