Privy Council to rule on Pitcairn sex-abuse trials

The saga of the Pitcairn Island underage sex trials moves to London in July when the Privy Council will decide if England has legal jurisdiction over the remote islands.

Several islanders, descendants of British mutineer Fletcher Christian, have gone to the Privy Council saying the British judicial system did not apply to them and therefore they could not be charged or convicted of sex charges including rape and sexual offences against underage girls.

Some of the alleged offences date back 40 years.

The Privy Council has set aside a fortnight to hear the arguments but is not expected to produce a judgment until September or October.

Seven islanders were tried on historic sex crimes in a trial on the island. Six were convicted and, of those, four face prison sentences.

One islander living in Australia was extradited to New Zealand and three islanders living in New Zealand have yet to be tried. Numerous hearings and appeals were heard in New Zealand after a special act of Parliament allowed Pitcairn courts to sit here because of the island's remoteness from Britain.

At the Privy Council hearing, defence lawyers are expected to challenge the English right to sovereignty over the islands and whether England had the legal right to charge the men.

Auckland crown prosecutor Simon Moore, who is to appear as a prosecutor for the British Government, said defence submissions were likely to focus on how informed the Pitcairn Islanders were about the laws that applied to them.

"Were the laws known to the Pitcairn Islanders or was the fact that the Pitcairn Islanders could be prosecuted for these crimes properly brought home to the islanders?"

If the Privy Council rejected the defence argument the convictions would be confirmed and the islanders' jail terms would then begin.

It would also allow the trials for the remaining islanders to continue in New Zealand.

- NZPA