An Australian learned academy has called for changes to the country¡¯s legal system, after its members helped secure an unconditional pardon for a woman once reviled as the nation¡¯s worst female serial killer.

The Australian Academy of Science said the ¡°great integrity¡± of the peer review system should be harnessed to make the legal system more ¡°science-sensitive¡±.

¡°We do not always have a system where the most¡­expert person is made available,¡± said chief executive Anna-Maria Arabia. ¡°We don¡¯t need scientists put into a boxing ring.

¡°We need a way in which science can be heard fairly, transparently and independently by the justice system¡­so they can bring to bear their knowledge in an unfettered way.¡±

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New South Wales (NSW) governor Margaret Beazley has pardoned Kathleen Folbigg, who endured 20 years¡¯ imprisonment over the deaths of her four young children, on the recommendation of state attorney general Michael Daley.

Mr Daley intervened after a preliminary report from former NSW chief justice Tom Bathurst, who is hearing a second judicial inquiry into Ms Folbigg¡¯s 2003 conviction, concluded there was ¡°reasonable doubt¡± about her guilt.

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It was an outcome that numerous appeals and an initial judicial inquiry had failed to achieve, despite mounting evidence ¨C including a recently discovered mutation in a gene associated with sudden infant death syndrome ¨C that all four children had succumbed to death from natural causes.

The pardon came five days after a motion seeking Ms Folbigg¡¯s immediate release, moved by Greens justice spokeswoman Sue Higginson, was passed by the state¡¯s upper house. The government had acknowledged the ¡°need for urgency¡± while vowing to ¡°carefully and thoroughly consider the evidence and findings¡±.

Ms Folbigg¡¯s convictions have not been quashed, lobby group stressed. ¡°The only body that can do that is a court of criminal appeal. Our fight for justice continues, but we are thrilled that she finally has her freedom.¡±

¡°A good final outcome to such a sad story,¡± Nobel laureate Peter Doherty tweeted. ¡°It¡¯s a great day for science,¡± said Australian Academy of Science president Chennupati Jagadish. ¡°The justice system has taken consideration of the scientific evidence.¡±

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Robert Moles, an adjunct associate professor in Flinders University¡¯s College of Business, Government and Law, said the Folbigg conviction should never have occurred. ¡°There was no forensic pathology evidence to support a conclusion of death by smothering.¡±

Griffith University geneticist Jeremy Brownlie said the pardon was a ¡°watershed moment¡± for Australia¡¯s legal and scientific communities. ¡°While much will be written about Folbigg¡¯s incarceration and what her future holds, the bigger question is how new scientific fields and technologies can be applied to legal cases of the past.

¡°As a nation, we already rely on independent scientific expertise to help to governments and industries in making informed choices. It only makes sense to extend this practice to our justice system.¡±

Ms Arabia said Australia should consider emulating other countries in establishing a criminal case review commission where ¡°science can be heard after all of the appeals mechanisms have been exhausted¡±.

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¡°There are myriad¡­pleas for pardons and other such things based on new evidence coming to light ¨C too many for anyone to look at just in an ad hoc way. We¡­need a system where those cases can be looked at on a case-by-case basis to determine whether they need to be opened again.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com