Dear Ministry of Justice,

In its response to me dated 1 September 2017, the Justice Ministry did not provide me with all of the information I requested. Regarding the Justice Ministry’s record keeping, has Archives NZ – or another agency or individual – conveyed any concerns or criticisms to the Justice Ministry since 1 January 2012? Please provide all records – including those of any informal discussions – held by the ministry about this question. This request includes records of communication within the ministry.

Please provide all records held by the ministry regarding any discussions that were held between 1 Janury 2009 and 30 June 2009 between the ministry and the Department of Internal Affairs about the Peter Ellis case. This request includes records of communication within the ministry.

Has the ministry attempted to obtain missing records pertaining to the Ministerial Inquiry into the Peter Ellis case.? If so, what action has the ministry taken to recover those records? What discussions (if any) within the ministry have taken place to locate the missing records, and have there been any discussions as to why the records are missing? (Please note the ministry has previously acknowledged that its records “do not indicate where the name Dr Louise Sas originated from.” It has also acknowledged that its records “do not show how many videotapes of the children’s interviews were sent" to the two international experts. The ministry has admitted that Val Sim, the ministry's then chief legal counsel, met or spoke with Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, who headed the inquiry, on at least six occasions during the course of the inquiry. The ministry acknowledges however: "It is important to note that this figure is unlikely to reflect all instances in which Ms Sim either met or spoke with Sir Thomas Eichelbaum…[t]his is because there are most likely discussions or meetings that took place, of which we are not aware and a record was not created.")

Yours faithfully,

Ross Francis