5 Aug 2017

Justice Ian Binnie - Compensating David Bain

From Saturday Morning, 9:08 am on 5 August 2017

One of Canada's most respected arbitrators and advocates, Ian Binnie served for nearly 14 years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. During this time Binnie authored more than 170 opinions, including in landmark cases involving corporate and commercial disputes, aboriginal rights, media law, punitive damages, expert evidence and many other aspects of constitutional, criminal and administrative law. In 2011, he was asked by the New Zealand government to investigate compensating David Bain after the Dunedinite's conviction for killing five family members was quashed in 2009. Binnie went on to recommend compensation, a decision that was thrown out by the Justice Minister at the time, Judith Collins, after a peer review by Robert Fisher QC - a process Binnie has called "a stitch-up". Binnie is in New Zealand as a keynote speaker at the 2017 Criminal Bar Association Conference in Auckland.