Legal aid reform passed by Parliament

Legislation which fundamentally reforms the legal aid system has been passed by Parliament.

The Legal Services Bill is part of the Government's response to Dame Margaret Bazley's report on the legal aid system which identified system-wide failings and called for urgent action to rebuild trust and confidence in it.

"The new legislation is aimed at improving the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of legal aid for the people who use it, and for the taxpayers who pay for it," Justice Minister Simon Power said after the bill tonight passed its final stage, the third reading.

"The Government's measures will improve the administration and quality of legal aid services and ensure that the system remains financially sustainable."

Mr Power said expenditure on legal aid had grown substantially, increasing by 61 percent over the past three years from $111 million to $172 million.

In the 2009/10 financial year the Legal Services Agency made 89,042 new grants of legal aid.

The measures in the bill include:

* Introducing a new quality assurance framework under which legal aid lawyers will have to demonstrate competency to a selection committee;

* disestablishing the Legal Services Agency and shifting responsibility for the administration of legal aid to the Secretary for Justice;

* establishing an independent statutory officer, the Legal Services Commissioner, who will have responsibility for granting legal aid and ensuring the independence of lawyers in the Public Defence Service;

* allowing the Secretary for Justice the flexibility to establish different legal services and deliver services in different ways; and

* replacing the Legal Aid Review Panel with the Legal Aid Tribunal, which will consider applications for review of decisions of the Legal Services Commissioner.

NZPA
Thu, 07 Apr 2011

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Legal aid reform passed by Parliament