Police have apologised for breaching a confidentiality agreement in a compensation deal they made with the family of a teenager accidentally shot and killed in 2009.

Police breached the terms of the $225,000 compensation deal they gave the family of a teenager accidently shot and killed during crossfire in 2009.

The police watchdog has made a u-turn on its decision to not investigate the handling of a complaint against serial rapist Malcolm Rewa from 25 years ago.

New Zealand's police watchdog says an investigation into the handling of a complaint against serial rapist Malcolm Rewa from 25 years ago is unwarranted.

The Justice Minister wants the IPCA to investigate claims police failed to investigate a complaint from a victim of serial rapist Malcolm Rewa.

The chance to catch serial rapist Malcolm Rewa at the beginning of a run of 25 known attacks was missed because of shoddy police work, TV3's 3rd Degree reported.

A high-profile defence lawyer who was declared bankrupt yesterday owing about $550,000 to Inland Revenue is blaming changes to the legal aid system.

The record of a high-profile figure will remain untarnished and his name will stay secret - despite admitting assaulting his young son.

The lawyer for a man linked to a gang has asked a court "who guards the guardians'' in a case in which police manufactured a fake search warrant.

Cross-lease property dispute escalates into costly legal stoush and ruling to demolish illegal structures.

Reports suggesting the Government could issue an immediate pardon to Teina Pora are wrong, Justice Minister Judith Collins says.

Former All Black Pita Alatini recognised the vacant and childlike expression on the face of his old mate, Teina Pora.

A reflective David Bain. Fonterra always made it clear it was in the business of making dairy products, not friends. Even its milk-in-schools programme was acknowledged as a strategy to build consumers of the future.

Justice Minister Judith Collins is wrong when she says Teina Pora cannot be pardoned by the Governor-General until he has exhausted all his appeal rights.

Government scientists say the three-year delay in linking a serial rapist to the rape and murder of Susan Burdett was because of laborious DNA techniques and an unprecedented workload because two serial rapists were active in Auckland at the same time.

Justice Minister Judith Collins has admitted convicted rapist Teina Pora, who has spent the past 20 years in prison, could be innocent.

Does anyone but Police Minister turned Justice Minister Judith Collins remain convinced Teina Pora raped and killed Susan Burdett?

The family of homeless man Edwin Linder wept in court as they faced the teenager charged with an assault that led to his death.

Justice Minister Judith Collins is seeking advice on whether to hold an independent inquiry into the Teina Pora case.

Are the criminals who appear in our courts a bunch of badly dressed, poorly spoken layabouts, as Judge Callander complains, or are they victims of a hostile system?

Grumpy old Judge Russell Callander would be appalled at the flotsam and jetsam of humanity who congregate each morning outside the big glass entranceway of Auckland District Court, paving Albert St with cigarette butts.

Professor Ian Campbell was my most astute and memorable law teacher at Victoria University of Wellington. He emphasised to his hapless young students that the law was about words: what they mean, how they work and when they can change or effect change.

Cynotech Holdings' chairman Allan Hawkins says the company was put into liquidation to protect "everybody's interests".

Israel has said it will release "heavyweight" Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement to enter preliminary talks in Washington.

More than $300,000 from the sale of a $2 million luxury yacht ended up with a company directed by his father-in-law, a court heard yesterday.

The mastermind of one of NZ's biggest public service frauds is about to be released from prison to live on a property "most of us can only dream about".

A former rich-lister is back at the High Court today, fighting to be discharged from bankruptcy - one of 24 the Official Assignee has objected to releasing.

A justice reform group is calling for 17-year-old offenders to be dealt with by the youth justice system rather than the adult criminal courts.

Jurors have begun their deliberations in the racially charged trial of a US neighbourhood watch volunteer accused of murderingunarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.