Ex-judge slams 'appalling behaviour' from lawyers

A former High Court judge says Public Defence Service (PDS) lawyers have been subjected to "appalling behaviour" from criminal lawyers opposed to them taking on a bigger share of the caseload.

The claim was made by Legal Services Agency chairman Sir John Hansen, who retired as a judge in 2008. 

The state-funded PDS been criticised since the government in April said its share of the criminal caseload would increase from 33% to 50%.

The Criminal Bar Association at the time said it was appalled at the changes, which it said would create a public monopoly of criminal defence lawyers.

PDS head Sir John this week hit out at critics of the service, saying at the opening of its Hamilton branch that rumours were "scurrilous and untrue".

The service had proved itself as a sound, cost-effective and high quality model, yet its expansion had led it to become the subject of misinformation and rumour.

"Some appalling behaviour was directed towards members of the Public Defence Service particularly at the Manukau court," he said.

Sir John said he thought that kind of unprofessionalism, from a small proportion of the criminal defence bar, would have ceased following Dame Margaret Bazley's review of legal aid. "Sadly it has not."

Sir John also hit out at allegations from some members of the criminal bar that the PDS was incapable of delivering a competent and independent service to clients.

He rejected suggestions PDS lawyers were pressuring clients into pleading guilty, saying guilty plea rates between clients represented by the PDS and those represented by the criminal bar were almost the same.

The "purveyors of misinformation" had said PDS was taking away choice, but Sir John said that overlooked the fact there was no right to choose legal counsel, apart from on homicide charges until the Legal Services Act was introduced in 2001.

The mixed-public model now in place was equivalent to that in Australia, where it had operated successfully in most states for more than 20 years, Sir John said.

"It could not be said that our previous model, as demonstrated by Dame Margaret, was operating successfully or cost efficiently," he said.

"Firmly behind this mixed model is a commitment to quality legal aid services. I have personally observed in the Public Defence Service lawyers a level of dedication and professionalism is second to none."

Sir John said rumours that the PDS would take on more than 50 percent of the caseload or expand beyond the centres in which it was set up to operate were untrue.

The caseload changes that sparked the controversy were among measures introduced by Justice Minister Simon Power in April to curb a legal aid spending blowout.

Legal aid costs had increased by 55 percent, from $111 million to $172m, in the past three years.  Barrister John Anderson from the Criminal Bar Association at the time said the PDS would cost taxpayers more money.

"In 2010, the PDS cost $1612 per criminal legal aid case, whereas lawyers as a whole cost $1343 per case."When it is rolled out to smaller centres and does more complex cases, its costs per case will increase even more."