Scott Watson is expected to be in the High Court in Christchurch today challenging a decision to ban him from giving an interview to a journalist.
Watson is serving a minimum non-parole period of 17 years after being convicted in 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.
North and South magazine writer Mike White said Corrections denied permission for him to interview Watson based on opposition from Ben Smart and Olivia Hope's parents.
"They've decided those are the most important considerations for them, the feelings of these people and the effect that any story might have on them. It's Corrections' view that on balance that these outweigh any rights that Mr Watson might have."
Mr White said his interview with Watson was all the more important now Watson's appeals to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council had both failed, along with an attempt to seek a pardon from the Governor-General.
"He's been in jail 17 years now and he's never said anything about it. He's let the appeal process run its course, he's now exhausted all his appeals and he has no other real forum to protest his innocence other than to speak to the media."
Rights of victims a factor
Media law expert Ursula Cheer said the last time Corrections was challenged over a decision to decline a request to interview an inmate was when TVNZ applied to interview Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui.
"The court there said that the right of freedom of expression should be taken into account in relation to the Bill of Rights.
"In that case, they said that if somebody's in prison for a criminal offence, then you look at the rights of the victims, you look at what normal imprisonment is for, it's got to have some element of punishment. None of those things applied to Mr Zaoui."
Ursula Cheer said Watson's situation was different because, unlike Mr Zaoui's case, the rights of the victims were a factor.
She said the system also required that after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted, the verdict was finally accepted.
"If every prisoner who had been through every process and exhausted their rights of appeal and so on was able to argue their case in the media, it could in fact be argued that this would disrupt order in prisons generally, and also disrupt the judicial system, in that you would have prisoners who would constantly be wanting to relitigate their cases in the media."
Mr Watson's father, Chris, said getting his son's story into the pages of North and South would help the campaign to see a Criminal Cases Review Commission set up to look at miscarriages of justice.
"We certainly can't get any headway because the case has turned so political. I mean, this Governor-General appeal that we made not long ago, the Justice Department just went into self-protection mode over that, I think."
The Corrections Department has declined to comment on this story, as has Watson's lawyer.
It is understood Watson will be in court for today's hearing, which would be the first time the public would have seen him since 2001.
