578 Within the criminal legal aid system, there are certain mechanisms for monitoring the services provided. Successful candidates receive lawyers from lists of practitioners established by district bar associations. Companies and district and higher court judges have the power to remove low-quality lawyers from the lists. (Legal Services Act, § 18) However, in many districts, the standards used to create lists and remove practitioners from the lists are not clearly defined. The New Zealand Law Society has recently issued guidelines on these two issues to assist district societies. 524 In any event, the existence of key interest rates exempts legal aid recipients from financial control of the files. They are not in the same situation as private litigants, who may refuse to pay their lawyers if they are not satisfied with the service they receive. Dame Bazley also highlighted that legal aid is one of the three sources of public funding available to Waitangi contract applicants[22] and recommended changing the way legal aid is granted to these applicants to avoid double diving. [23] If you have an employment problem, you may be able to find an employment lawyer “without any gain or cost.” These are people (not necessarily lawyers) who will help you in your case and ask you for a percentage of your payment if your boss ends up paying you some of the money you are asking for.
“Many of our Maori women know what legal aid is, but they still can`t afford it. The $50 fee is too high for them. – Transcript of Hui with Maori women, Rohe 9,595 In contrast, in Rotorua, where only 3% of applicants are exempt from paying the $50, the following comment was made by a local lawyer: If you have been assigned a legal aid lawyer, you need good reasons to: change lawyers. In most cases, you will not be able to change legal aid lawyers. 477 Second, this review of the rules on legal aid in civil matters, as well as those carried out in other chapters, is intended to help identify and design deeper reforms of the civil justice system that promote the fair treatment of women. Chapter 12 makes some suggestions on the areas and likely directions of such reforms. 545 Second, although lawyers have an ethical obligation to inform clients of their right to legal aid, they are not required to act on behalf of those clients in the context of legal aid in civil matters. And even if a volunteer lawyer can be found, his professional competence for the case in question cannot always be guaranteed. This is less likely in traditional and growing areas of legal practice, such as family and psychiatric proceedings – although there has been much criticism (including from experienced lawyers and judges) about the professional and personal qualifications of junior lawyers for family proceedings. However, in less developed areas of law – for example, consumer law and social law – expertise is less widespread and lawyers willing to work for low-income clients are harder to find.
563 The exclusion of legal aid for litigation advice would not be a problem if low-income New Zealanders had access to an adequate range of legal aid services. However, as the analysis in Chapter 5 has shown, the availability of low-cost legal services is very limited. The result of this combination of circumstances is an example of the need to coordinate different types of legal services. 520 The deterrent effect of both the initial contribution and the possibility and reality of fees on legal aid applicants has already been described. In their responses to the consultation paper on women`s access to legal aid in civil matters, lawyers often defended the status quo on the grounds that these aspects of the program justifiably deter vexatious litigation and require civil litigants, like any private paid litigant, to weigh the costs and benefits of their litigation before proceeding. The reasoning is that if civil legal aid were simply a grant, recipients would be much less likely to consider cost factors in their decision and would have an incentive to pursue litigation indefinitely in order to achieve the best outcome. Legal aid is government funding that you can get in certain circumstances to pay for a lawyer if you can`t afford one yourself. It`s not just free money, however, you may have to pay back the government later or if you can afford it, but it`s probably a lot cheaper than hiring a private lawyer. 470 measures to remove barriers identified by women will inevitably have tax implications. Clearly, if eligibility for civil legal aid is extended in response to its reduced availability, but without other savings changes, the Crown, and therefore taxpayers, will face an increased bill for the services provided by the justice system.
Already, the cost of legally binding civil litigation is rising every year, despite considerable efforts in recent years to contain it. In 1997/98, the civil legal aid scheme cost the State $40.32 million (see Chapter 5, paragraph 382). 570 There is no information to compare the quantity and quality of legal representation of legal aid recipients who own dwellings and persons who do not own a dwelling and who do not apply for or receive assistance solely on the basis of their savings. The exemption of a share of a house worth up to $41,000 of available capital recognizes that a person`s interest in owning a home is more important than their interest in saving. The reason for the exemption is that the legal aid system should not be so restrictive that low-income individuals are forced to literally sell the roof over their heads (or acquire a commercial mortgage through their interest in doing so – the chances of which may be slim due to their low income) in order to initiate or defend civil proceedings. • the Conseil des services juridiques is developing a more comprehensive public education programme on legal aid in civil matters; • The Legal Services Council takes all possible measures (including counsel`s outreach) to ensure consistency and fairness in how the initial contribution is to be paid or exempted by district subcommittees; “Originally, V depended on legal aid.