[8] The National Party opposed its establishment, and in 2024, appointed a retired judge as head of the Commission, potentially undermining its independence.

[12] Another concern is that historically, the Royal prerogative of mercy process has received very few applications from Māori and Pacific people, who are over-represented in the justice system.

[14] David Bain spent 13 years in prison before his conviction was overturned by the Privy Council in London after a lengthy legal battle conducted on his behalf by former All Black, Joe Karam.

In 1993, Peter Ellis was convicted on 16 counts of sexual offending involving children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche around the time of the day-care sex-abuse hysteria.

It took 36 years, 19 of them spent in prison, before the Supreme Court of New Zealand acknowledged a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred and overturned his conviction on 8 June 2022.

[17] Both Teina Pora and Alan Hall were subsequently diagnosed with autism which made them vulnerable to manipulation when interrogated by police.

With no forensic evidence, the convictions were based on the testimony of four people, two of whom subsequently recanted saying they were pressured by police to claim they were witnesses.

Others likely to make an application include Mark Lundy and Scott Watson both of whom have protested their innocence despite spending years in prison.

Judith Collins, who was Minister of Justice at the time, refused to accept that he was innocent and denied him Government compensation, even though he spent 13 years in prison.

Nick Chisnall, the lawyer who helped persuade the Supreme Court overturn Alan Hall's conviction, commented afterwards: "the fact it’s taken 30 years to get to this point, is an indictment on our criminal justice system.

Hamilton barrister Roger Laybourn agreed that making the Commission separate from the justice department and the court system is important.

He is also a former police officer who became an independent investigator, and played a key role in overturning the murder convictions of Teina Pora and Alan Hall and Gail Maney.

They will be replaced by Suzanne Robertson, KC, who has no experience in criminal law and Emma Finlayson-Davis who was a Crown prosecutor for 10 years.

Hampton also said that appointing a former judge as head of the CCRC created the perception that it was now just another branch of the justice system which was responsible for the wrongful convictions in the first place.

In regard to the appointment of retired judge, Denis Clifford to head the Commission, Little said: “I was always very clear the Government should be very careful about appointing a judge to a body which is critiquing the work of our courts, particularly our senior courts, when it comes to miscarriages of justice.” The Ministry also recommended Finlayson-Davis even though her husband is a partner at Meredith Connell responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in Auckland ‒ including numerous people who have applied to the CCRC saying they were wrongfully convicted.

[28] Since the Commission launched in July 2000, a total of 478 applications were made from individuals claiming they have been wrongly convicted or sentenced (as at october 2024).

[35] In December 2022, the Commission handed down its first decision regarding the conviction of a 15-year-old male, referred to as Mr G. In 2001, he was sentenced to 11 months in prison on charges of assault, drink-driving and unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.

Documents filed in court by police had the wrong date of birth, indicating that Mr G was 17 and so the judge sentenced him to prison.

[37] The CCRC said "an unusual factor, in this case, is that Genge and Kirner have consistently maintained that they did not know Oketopa and only met him at their first [court] appearance."

The CCRC added that there was evidence Oketopa was asleep, passed out, in a friend's car in another part of Christchurch at the time of the murder.

[38] When interviewed by police two days after Ellens' body was found, Oketopa admitted he had sex with her at Christchurch East School, but said it was consensual.