Dear Ministry of Justice,

In the Justice Ministry’s reply to me dated 1 June 2018, the Ministry states that under “no circumstances” is any lawyer engaged by the Ministry not required to declare an actual or potential conflict of interest. When did this policy come into effect and was it in effect when the Ministerial Inquiry into the Peter Ellis case was established in 2000??

Dr Barry Parsonson’s review of the research literature was included in Peter Ellis’s first application for the Royal prerogative of mercy in 1997. In March 1998, Justice Ministry officials said his reports cast “considerable doubt on the reliability of the evidence given by the complainants”.

Did officials raise any doubts about the safety of Peter Ellis’s conviction, or concerns about the case in general, with Doug Graham in 1998/99 or Phil Goff subsequently? Please supply me with all records of any doubts or concerns that were brought to the attention of Graham and Goff by the Ministry between 1 March 1998 and 30 April 2002.

Yours faithfully,

Ross Francis