Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Val Sim Valery Catherine Sim is a New Zealand Law Commissioner and a member of the New Zealand Criminal Justice Advisory Board.She attended Victoria University of Wellington where she graduated with an LL.B (Hons). After spending 15 years as a barrister or solicitor, she joined the Ministry of Justice in 1992. In 1998, she was appointed to the position of Chief Legal Counsel. During her six years in that position, she ruled on many petitions for the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy. Among the petitioners whom she said should not be pardoned were David Bain, Rex Haig, and Peter Ellis. The Privy Council later quashed Bain''s conviction, while Haig''s was overturned by the Court of Appeal.