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Decade-long Farce Laid Bare DPP Lodges Destruction of Evidence Indictment By Bruce Grundy (12.10.03) The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has lodged an indictment with the District Court in Brisbane charging a man over a matter which the legal establishment of Queensland has claimed for over ten years does not constitute an offence. The indictment against a Baptist minister lists two possible offences under the Criminal Code. The first, under Section 129, alleges the man rendered illegible material that he knew "might" have been required in a judicial proceeding. At the time of the alleged offence, no such proceeding was under way. However, for over a decade the Criminal Justice Commission (now Crime and Misconduct Commission) under no less than three separate chairmen, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, a currently serving magistrate and the recently appointed State Coroner have all said that a charge under s 129 could not be sustained unless a legal proceeding was actually on foot at the time potential evidence was destroyed or rendered illegible. A number of prominent legal academics and a former Appeal Court judge have strenuously rejected such a view. However, the opinion of those listed above has meant that none of the politicians or bureaucrats involved in the destruction of evidence gathered by an 1990 inquiry into a Brisbane Youth Detention Centre has ever faced the courts. They were consistently exonerated of any breach of the law because, it was claimed, at the time they approved the destruction or destroyed the material, no legal proceeding had actually commenced. In the case of the Baptist minister, no legal proceeding relating to the material he rendered illegible occurred for five years. Cabinet records have revealed that all those involved in approving the destruction of the detention centre material knew it was being sought by a firm of lawyers for a legal proceeding. The indictment lodged in the District Court has clearly established that a citizen is facing trial for an action others, including some of the state's most powerful people, escaped. The alternative charge mentioned in the indictment against the Baptist minister relates to s 140 of the Criminal Code -- an attempt to pervert the course of justice. For background, see: Shredding Story Overview and all entries under Rule Of Law And Destruction Of Evidence. Top 1190 page visits Content Management Software 2008