- Val Sim
Val Sim Valery (Val) Catherine Sim (born
1954 ) is a New Zealand Law Commissioner and a member of the New Zealand Criminal Justice Advisory Board.She attended
Victoria University of Wellington where she graduated with an LL.B (Hons). After spending 15 years as a barrister or solicitor, she joined the Ministry of Justice in 1992. In 1998, she was appointed to the position of Chief Legal Counsel. During her six years in that position, she ruled on many petitions for the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy. Among the petitioners whom she said should not be pardoned wereDavid Bain , Rex Haig, and Peter Ellis. The Privy Council later quashed Bain’s conviction, while Haig’s was overturned by the Court of Appeal.In 2002, following the publication of Lynley Hood’s book A City Possessed into the Peter Ellis case, then Justice Minister Phil Goff asked Sim to review Hood’s book to determine if it contained any new evidence. Sim said it did not. cite book | last = Sim | first = Val
title= A City Possessed, Lynley Hood’s Book on the Christchurch Civic Creche Case | publisher=Ministry of Justice | origyear=2002 | url=http://www.peterellis.org.nz/CityPossessed/Reviews/2002-05_MinistryJustice_ValSim.htm] She concluded her review by quoting Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, who in 2001 reported that the case should be “allowed to rest”.In 2004, Sim was appointed as Human Rights leader at Crown Law Office. In 2007, she was made a Law Commissioner for a term of three years. The following year she was appointed to the Criminal Justice Advisory Board, which was established to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system.
References
External links
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/crony-watch-special-sims
http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/Commissioners.aspx
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