KEY POINTS:
MP Taito Phillip Field has failed in his attempt to have his bribery and corruption trial held before this year's general election.
Field sought an order for an accelerated trial after he was committed at a depositions hearing in the Manukau District Court last month to stand trial on 40 bribery, corruption and obstruction charges.
Field is alleged to have allowed several Thai nationals, whom he was helping with immigration issues, work on his properties for little pay between November 2002 and October 2005.
At a conference with counsel in the High Court at Auckland last month, Field's lawyer, Paul Davison, QC, said the application to have the trial this year was not for Field's benefit but to ensure that if he was acquitted, voters in the Mangere electorate would have the opportunity to vote for the sitting Mangere MP.
But the application was rejected on the grounds that a trial expected to last several weeks was not practical until later next year.
Had Field's application been granted it would also have affected trials that were already scheduled to start.
Field is now an independent MP but was elected to the Mangere seat as a Labour Party candidate.
The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks. At least 50 witnesses, many with little English ability, will be called.
