UPDATED 11.59am: A former Christchurch City Councillor says she was told to keep quiet when Peter Ellis was accused of abusing children at the city's civic creche.

Ellis served seven years in prison on multiple charges of sexual offending against children.

The Justice Minister has turned down a request for a Commission of Inquiry in the case.

Carol Evans says when the allegations came out, everyone panicked.

"I know the panic was around the council table.

"If we had an opinion we were told that we were not to say anything the only people you could talk to would come home and tell your family."

Carol Evans says she strongly believes in Ellis' innocence.

Meanwhile, Ellis' lawyer says legal options remaining to get convictions quashed will be challenging.

Nigel Hampton QC says an appeal to the Privy Council would be expensive and time consuming.

"It's logistically quite difficult. You end up back in front of a Court of Appeal which is possibly a bit strained in terms of the depth of the issues it could look at."

Hampton says Mr Ellis still has the resolve to fight the convictions, and an independent Case Review Commission could be beneficial in putting many controversial cases to rest.

"[It] would have a very wide power to look at claims of miscarriage of justice, such as Peter Ellis, such as more recently Teina Pora and David Bain."

A Christchurch author thinks the Government is afraid of a backlash if it revisits the Peter Ellis case.

Lynley Hood, who wrote 'A City Possessed' says the setting up of a Criminal Review Commission for dubious cases would help restore faith in the justice system.

But she says so far Crown Law seems to be afraid of the outcome.

"We can't do this. The sky will fall in and people's confidence in the Justice system will be eroded. Well, it's extremely eroded now because you can't correct a mistake."

Lynley Hood says there was never any reliable evidence, so it now can't be dealt with by the courts.

Ellis served seven years in prison for abusing young children in his care