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Police have asked the High Court to quash a Human Rights Tribunal finding that they were wrong to tell the Corrections Department one of its prison officers had been charged with a criminal offence.
The case between the director of Human Rights Proceedings and the Commissioner of Police was argued yesterday in the High Court at Wellington before Justice Denis Clifford and two members of the Human Rights Commission panel.
The court was told Carol Whatuira, a prison officer at Hawkes Bay Prison, was given diversion after being charged with using a document because she lied to police in 2003 to protect her sister-in-law who was carrying out an insurance scam.
After she was initially charged on the afternoon of Friday August 15, 2003 a police officer rang the prison superintendent because he believed Ms Whatuira was rostered on to work the weekend and would not tell her employer about the charges first.
Ms Whatuira took her case to the tribunal, which decided in February this year that the police officer had caused her significant humiliation. The tribunal awarded her $5000, which is being held by the director until the proceedings are resolved.
Ms Whatuira kept her job after being given diversion.
Lawyer for the Commissioner of Police Aaron Martin said the tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction, and Ms Whatuira herself had told her supervisor on the Friday evening.
Robert Stevens, representing the director of Human Rights Proceedings, said Ms Whatuira had planned to tell her employer on the Monday or Tuesday. But the police officer said he would contact her employer on the Friday night, which pressured her into telling a supervisor before seeking legal advice.
The court reserved its decision.
- NZPA
