New Zealand: Supreme Court dismisses Jehovah's Witnesses' final appeal for Abuse in Care exemption

by AndersonsInfo 11 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  AndersonsInfo

  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/528110/supreme-court-dismisses-jehovah-s-witnesses-final-appeal-for-abuse-in-care-exemption

  1:10 pm on 16 September 2024

  Anusha Bradley, Investigative Reporter

  The Jehovah's Witnesses's final attempt to escape the Abuse in Care inquiry has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

  The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses has repeatedly sought, and failed, to be exempted from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, arguing it did not have children in its care so was out of the inquiry's scope.

  The court action was launched after three years of legal wrangling with the inquiry behind the scenes to avoid its scrutiny. The Court of Appeal dismissed the faith's argument in April, prompting it to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

  In a judgment issued on Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the faith's application, saying it agreed with the Court of Appeal's conclusions.

  It also rejected an argument that there had been a "miscarriage of justice".

  "Nor does anything raised by the Jehovah's Witnesses give rise to an appearance of a miscarriage of justice in the approach adopted by the Court of Appeal, particularly where the proposed appeal would be academic," the court said.

  "The Commission has now released its report. The Jehovah's Witnesses can challenge the report of the Commission, as we understand it has done.".

  The Commission's final report, which included a 74-page case study into the Jehovah's Witnesses, concluded the faith did have children or vulnerable people in its care and there was "credible evidence" of abuse.

  The Supreme Court also chastised the church for filing a submission that exceeded the 10-page limit and ordered it to pay court costs of $2500 to the Crown.

  The Jehovah's Witnesses have already agreed to pay $48,000 in court costs from a string of failed cases related to the inquiry and its final report.

  The church has been approached for comment.

  Former Jehovah's Witness-turned-advocate Shayne Mechen said the Supreme Court decision was "good news" for survivors of abuse within the church.

  "Survivors will feel ecstatic it has finally come to an end and the JWs are no longer trying to escape scrutiny."

  
  
  
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  karter

  I live in New Zealand and can tell them about many many cases of CSA.

  I have spoken to Anusha Bradley and she wrote an article about it.

  Karter.
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  blondie

  karter, glad you keep in touch with the media on this issue. The WTS has lost again, and rightly so. I hope decisions against the WTS on child abuse keep happening.
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  NotFormer

  I said this in Blondie's thread:

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5201222865256448/new-zealand-rejects-jw-final-appear-abuse-care-exemption

  But a disturbing thought occurred to me. New Zealand's Bethel was closed down and operations in NZ are now directed from Australia's Bethel in NSW. I imagine that any documents pertaining to the cases that the Royal Commission are interested in are now on Australian soil. Which to me looks like being a legal nightmare when it comes to trying to subpoena those documents.
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  NotFormer

  karter, encourage anyone you know to approach the Royal Commission with their experiences.
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  joe134cd

  That bethel was sold for $NZ52 million. That was 10 years ago, and none of the local PIMIs were any the wiser. The money just vanished. IMO as far as making roads into the JW community, this whole thing was a total waste of time.
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  Drearyweather

  The biggest problem with these CSA court cases is that they begin with a bang and get published everywhere, but by the time it reaches its conclusion, the coverage gets limited, and many people just don't get to know what verdict has been reached.

  The same happened with the Australian Commission. While many know about it when it got initiated, they don't know what conclusion it reached, and what ramifications it had for the WT in Australia in legal terms.
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  Phizzy

  " They don't know what conclusion it reached"

  The wilful Ignorance of the Many is a source of great sadness to me, especially that of the J.W's, who have allowed their Minds to be Controlled so that they are afraid to find out the Truth of matters.

  But for the few J.W's who DO just make a few clicks with their Mouse to find out about the terrible J.W Org CSA Scandal, it is a HUGE Wake Up Call !

  Thank you Barbara, for all your work over so many years, and for continuing to keep us informed.
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  TonusOH

  The important thing is that the information is available, so that anyone who wants to know (or know more) can look it up and read it themselves. This is why organizations like the WTS fight so hard to be removed or excluded from the record. Later, when they claim that they are protecting children and that they deal harshly with predators, people can find information that demonstrates that they are lying.

  Now, if they want to deny that they have a problem, they have to explain why there is a growing list of documentation showing that they are a part of the problem. And that the way they have dealt with CSA is shameful. This already has led to changes in their approach, where they are more open to advising victims to contact the authorities instead of warning them to 'keep it in house.' This is what needs to happen. They have to make it very clear that victims should contact the authorities ASAP, instead of relying on a group of unqualified elders to handle the situation.

  But this also makes it clear that they are more concerned about their reputation than they are about protecting children. That has to change as well.
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  Balaamsass2

  The evidence and documentation keep piling up.