KEY POINTS:
Independent MP Taito Phillip Field is likely to fight today's High Court decision allowing police to lay bribery and corruption charges against him.
The 15 charges relate to work done on seven houses Field owns in Auckland, Tonga, Wellington and Samoa.
It is alleged the work was done
in return for then Labour MP Mr Field giving immigration assistance to the workers.
In a judgment released this afternoon, Chief High Court Judge Justice Tony Randerson said it was in the public interest to authorise a prosecution.
"Having reviewed the material presented to the Court, I am satisfied that it is sufficiently strong to warrant the grant of leave to prosecute."
He said the allegations against Mr Field were "extremely serious in that they strike at the heart of the administration of government and the integrity of members of parliament".
Police welcomed the decision and Detective Superintendent Malcolm Burgess said he hoped to have charges laid in the next fortnight.
He said police would also be laying a number of charges against Mr Field in relation to allegations of attempting to obstruct justice.
But Mr Field's lawyer Satiu Simativa Perese said police needed to allow a reasonable window of time so his client could consider an appeal, which was highly likely given the seriousness of the charges.
"It may well go as far as the Supreme Court," he said on Radio New Zealand.
Mr Field said he was very disappointed but that an appeal had always been inevitable.
"We were hoping the judge would see the arguments that we put forward, but that's his interpretation of the law and although we are disappointed I guess we knew before his decision that either party would likely appeal to the Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court."
He said the decision in no way indicated any guilt on his part and he continued to maintain his complete innocence.
He said he would continue as an MP while the "legal battle" continued.
He accepted the decision could delay his ability to join a united Christian party, but it was possible he could form his own party in the meantime and coalesce with the larger party later on.
He and his legal team would discuss an appeal early next week.
Mr Field said police were drawing incorrect conclusions from the information before them in the evidence they presented to the court at the August hearing.
But Crown prosecutor Simon Moore said the decision was an indication there was a case to answer.
"It doesn't amount to a prima facie case but it does go so far as to indicate that there is a certain level of strength and sufficiency of the evidence," he said on Radio New Zealand.
Mr Burgess said if police laid charges the next step would be a depositions hearing.
Justice Randerson said there was no doubt that Mr Field had undertaken immigration work for people who had worked on his houses, but he said the issues for the trial were likely to be whether:
* The work was carried out at an undervalue
* There was a corrupt arrangement whereby the work would be done in recognition of the immigration assistance provided
* The respondent appreciated this was the nature of the arrangement
Justice Randerson said much would depend on the "credibility and reliability of the Thai immigrants involved".
He concluded: "There can be no question that the allegations made against the respondent are extremely serious in that they strike at the heart of the administration of government and the integrity of members of Parliament.
"Where allegations of this nature are made, there is a strong public interest in authorising a prosecution in order to ensure the allegations are thoroughly tested in a court of law."
Approval from the court was needed for the charges to proceed because Mr Field is a sitting MP.
He was a Labour MP at the time the allegations surfaced but is now an independent.
Justice Randerson said he was satisfied no improper pressure had been brought to bear on the investigation of the alleged offences, or the decision to prosecute.
- NZHERALD STAFF, NZPA
