The man who allegedly fled the country on a false passport, sparking an international manhunt, will try to move the case to the High Court next month.
Phillip John Smith's case was called before the High Court at Auckland this morning but all legal discussions were suppressed.
All that can be reported is that the transferal application may be heard in four weeks time.
Smith allegedly fled to South America while on temporary release from Spring Hill Corrections Facility in South Auckland on November 6. He was serving a life term at the time for the 1995 stabbing murder of the father of a boy he had sexually abused.
At the time, Smith - who had tracked the family down to a Wellington house where they had moved to escape him - was on bail for the sexual offending and charges of blackmail against a man who later killed himself.
