Browsing by Author "Slankard, Jesse"

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Open Access
Jury secrecy, contempt of court and appellate review
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2017) Slankard, Jesse
In stark contrast to the transparency of most procedures characteristic of the justice system, decisions by juries are made in private and the reasons for their decisions are kept secret. The jury secrecy rule is considered essential to the proper administration of justice in the context of trial by jury. This paper is focused on the application of the rule after the delivery of the jury’s verdict and the impact of the rule on investigations into allegations of juror misconduct. It responds to the recent suggestion from the New Zealand Law Commission that a statutory offence applying to persons who disclose matters relating to jury deliberations be established and with a corresponding defence that would allow disclosure after delivery of the jury’s verdict in circumstances where juror misconduct may have resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
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Non-Common-Sensical: An Inference of Guilt to Sanction Non-Compliance with Defence Disclosure
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2010) Slankard, Jesse
In New Zealand, defendants in criminal proceedings are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proving the defendant’s guilt is on the prosecution and the standard of proof required is beyond a reasonable doubt.These procedural rights are guaranteed to defendants by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (BORA) and are integral to securing the just determination of criminal proceedings. Because a case against a defendant can never be proved beyond all doubt, logical inferences from established facts are an unavoidable part of the fact-finding process. As part of its Criminal Procedure Simplification Project (CPSP), New Zealand’s Ministry of Justice (Ministry) is currently considering the implementation of mandatory defence disclosure of the issues in dispute at a pre-trial hearing stage (issues ID process). The Ministry has released a draft Bill outlining how the issues ID process will be incorporated into the existing law. This paper will address the enforcement mechanism adopted by the draft Bill – an indiscriminate inference of guilt from non-compliance. The proposed inference will align the Ministry’s issues ID process with the extensive reforms carried out in England and Wales (E&W) during the 1990s.
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Prosecution Disclosure and the Imbalance of Rights at the ICC: A Case for Greater Judicial Control
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2011) Slankard, Jesse
The Preamble of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Statute) acknowledges that “during this century, children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity”. Accordingly, the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court) was established to put an end to the impunity of perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The first case to come before ICC, the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (Lubanga Trial), presented challenging issues regarding the procedure for the disclosure of potentially exculpatory material by the prosecution established by the Statute and the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence (Rules). Central to these issues is whether the judges have interpreted the Statute and the Rules in a way that adequately balances the rights, interests and obligations of the Office of the Prosecutor, the accused, and the witnesses that appear before the Court. It is the author’s contention that achieving the right balance in this respect is integral to establishing and maintaining the legitimacy of the ICC and thus enabling it to effectively perform its function of holding the perpetrators of international crimes to account.