What is it with the ever growing tendency towards appealing court decisions? They didn't used to be so commonplace. What changed? Is it legal aid? Lazy lawyers? Criminals addicted to seeing their name in print?
Do you want to pay for this guy to be re-tried? I sure as hell don't. Surely too, appeals use up resources contributing to unacceptable waiting times for initial trials. Appealing seems to be par for the course these days and is fast turning into a farce.
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...Reid was revelling in the attention.
"He wanted to be New Zealand's most notorious criminal. This is the only thing he's got. It's his dream come true."
OK, I'm going with "Criminals addicted to seeing their name in print" in this case. He gets more media attention, with the added bonus that he knows we hate the fact we're paying for it. It's just all good from his pov.
If they win the appeal then his lawyer can get paid otherwise all court costs must be paid by Reid - and if he can't then the lawyer should pay.
Definitely the tax payer should not.
The legal aid system is a gold mine for lawyers. without it many would not be able to continue in practice. Its in their interest to encourage their clients to appeal.
But then again justice should not be about how much money one has. Its rock and a hard place stuff.
As they say- the rich get justice- the poor get the law.
Dirk
It has to be the money for lawyers. If they are so concerned about justice let them do it pro bono. It is a farce.
The rise in appeals probably stems from the changes made to the Legal Aid legislaiton made in 2001 and the 2002 Privy Council decision of R v Taito. Up until that time legal aid applications for criminal appeals to the court of appeal were vetted by three Court of Appeal judges. If the case had no reasonable chance of success legal aid was denied.
Unfortunately the Privy Council found that this approach was inconsistant with the then current legislation, which essentially gave prisioners a right to have their appeal heard. Under the pre-2001 system an average of 160 applications for legal aid were denied annually. Under the modified system only 22 were denied in the first year (2001). (Both figures from the Taito judgment whcih you can get from teh Privy Council website).
Act had an interesting reaction to the Taito case http://www.act.org.nz/news/stinging-rebuke-to-govt-and-nz-court-of-appeal
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