The former head of the Law Commission says the Government needs to review its processes in light of the way it has dealt with a report on David Bain's compensation claim.
Justice Minister Judith Collins on Thursday released the report by retired Canadian judge Ian Binnie along with a review of it she said confirmed that the document is flawed. Ms Collins is not ruling out commissioning a new report.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer said the Government's handling of the report has been unsettling, and in this instance the justice system has failed.
He told Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme Mr Bain and his supporters face an uphill battle in order to get any compensation.
"A fair go is getting increasingly difficult for them to have, given the swirling controversy that has emerged on this matter in a way that is really particularly worrying for the future of the administration of justice, I would suggest."
David Bain is seeking compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment for 13 years in jail, following his 2009 acquittal at a retrial of the murders of his parents and three siblings.
Justice Binnie's report recommends that Mr Bain be paid compensation. The judge said the physical evidence compels the conclusion that it is more probable than not that Mr Bain's father Robin Bain killed his wife and three children, before killing himself.
The peer review by New Zealand lawyer Robert Fisher, QC, said the judge was not asked to recommend whether Mr Bain be paid compensation, but to decide whether he was innocent on the balance of probabilities. It said Justice Binnie went beyond his mandate and made fundamental errors of principle.
Minister's criticism report 'overstated'
The Justice Minister is being accused of using underhand tactics to undermine a report on the David Bain case because she doesn't like its conclusion
The Labour Party said Ms Collins has been trying behind the scenes to undermine Justice Binnie's report when she should have just asked him review the parts she was concerned about.
The Green Party said the minister cannot justify spending more money on another report, just because she doesn't like the result of the one that was commissioned.
But Ms Collins said Justice Binnie went well beyond his mandate and his report was fundamentally flawed and outside the terms of reference.
"I would never put a report like this up to my cabinet colleagues and ask them to make a decision based on it."
