Police Commissioner, Howard Broad, has assigned a senior investigating officer to undertake a full review of the Don Brash email case, including actions right through to public release of the edited file.
Mr Broad said that Dr Brash had continued to raise concerns about police handling of his case and those expressions of concern had the potential to undermine public trust and confidence in the Police.
"I have, therefore, tasked one of the country's most senior investigators, Assistant Commissioner (Auckland), Steve Shortland, to undertake a full review of the file and to assure me that all practical avenues of investigation around the case were exhausted. If a contrary view is arrived at I would expect the Assistant Commissioner to advise what further investigative work might be undertaken to bring the matter to resolution.
"The Assistant Commissioner will be assisted in his task by an independent third party who will sit alongside Mr Shortland and provide further objective oversight of the process. The independent adviser, likely to be a Queens Counsel, will be appointed after consultation with Dr Brash.
The Commissioner said he believed that the action to be taken would enable a thorough and timely assessment of Police handling of the case rather than any form of Commission of Inquiry.
"There are considerable difficulties running Commissions of Inquiry in parallel with open criminal cases," said Mr Broad.
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