New legal aid case law
The first published determinations of the Legal Aid Tribunal are now available at <www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/legal-aid-tribunal/decisions>.
The Tribunal is the legal aid review body under the Legal Services Act 2011 (replacing the former Legal Aid Review Panel). The Tribunal chairperson “may direct such publication of decisions of the Tribunal as the chairperson considers necessary or desirable in the public interest” (s 58 of the Legal Services Act 2011).
Currently the de-personalised determinations are published as individual PDFs. The Tribunal advises on the webpage cited above that it is developing a searchable database.
Determinations of Interest to Legal Aid Providers
Sixteen Tribunal determinations have been published to date. Two determinations in particular — AS (Historic Abuse) [2011] NZLAT 29 and AM (Historic Abuse) [2011] NZLAT 36 — may be of interest to legal aid providers. These similar determinations cover a range of new or (if I may boldly — some might say madly — suggest) fascinating aspects of the legal aid system: transitional arrangements for legal aid granted under the Legal Services Act 2000; the “exceptional circumstances” test for acceptance of a review application outside the standard time-frame; whether a grant can be amended after legal aid is withdrawn; the statutory payment discretion available in respect of an invoice that exceeds the specified maximum grant; and (in [2011] NZLAT 29) the issue of necessary post-withdrawal work to close a file etc.
Review Authority
A second review body established under the Legal Services Act 2011 is the Review Authority. The Authority's function is to review decisions of the Secretary for Justice about provider approvals. It appears that Authority decisions selected for publication will be made available in de-personalised form at <www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/review-authority/decisions> (currently there are none).
Click to find out about our legal aid publications Brookers Legal Services (available in online and looseleaf formats) and Legal Aid Handbook (bound book).
And/or contact your Account Manager or Customer Care for more information.
Kevin Leary is a Senior Legal Editor in the New Zealand Analytical Law team at Thomson Reuters. He has more than 20 years' experience as an editor of bound books, looseleafs, precedents and their digital equivalents.