Court throws out Pitcairn Islanders' appeal over sex charges

3.30pm - UPDATE

Seven Pitcairn Islanders facing 96 sex charges will be tried under British law on their island next month after a court threw out their latest legal action in Auckland today.

The Pitcairn Court of Appeal, which sat in Auckland under a special act of the New Zealand Parliament, dismissed an appeal by the seven descendants of Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian.

They had claimed a lower Pitcairn court got it wrong earlier this year when it ruled Pitcairn to be a British possession and subject to British law.

The Pitcairn Supreme Court sat in the Papakura District Court and ruled on April 19 this year, saying it had no doubt about the legitimacy of the establishment of a British settlement on Pitcairn Island, nor of the British law which applied to the small island, halfway between New Zealand and Chile.

Today the Pitcairn Court of Appeal agreed and said the available material established Pitcairn as a British possession, probably as far back as 1838.

"The islanders have always been regarded as, and regarded themselves as British subjects," the appeal court said in its written ruling today.

It agreed with the Supreme Court that Pitcairn was a British possession acquired by settlement.

Today's decision is expected to be taken to the Privy Council in London later this year.

The trial of the seven men has been scheduled to begin on September 23 on Pitcairn Island for seven or eight weeks but it is not known if a Privy Council appeal would delay the trial.

Two other applications were due to be heard by the Pitcairn Supreme Court in Papakura tomorrow (Friday), when defence lawyers will ask for the charges to be thrown out because it has taken so long for them to get to court, and if the trial goes ahead, for the seven men to be tried separately.

The seven men are facing a variety of sex charges, including rape and indecent assault. Some of the charges are thought to go back nearly 40 years.

Six other men living off the island are expected to face similar charges. Two live in Australia and four in New Zealand, and extradition papers will be lodged for them to appear in a Pitcairn court sitting in New Zealand.

The huge cost of the island trial and legal preliminaries are all being met by the British government, which is paying for both the prosecution and defence and the cost of establishing the courts to sit in New Zealand and on the island.

The trials will be judge alone with the seven accused but evidence will be relayed to the court through a satellite link with witnesses in New Zealand.

A new jail has been built on the island to imprison the men there if they are found guilty and prison guards from New Zealand are expected to be on the island for the duration of the prison sentences after a request from the British government for help.

Pitcairn has a population of 47, which is expected to expand to more than 70 for the trial. It has no airstrip, no scheduled air service and communication is via satellite.

- NZPA