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27/06/2024 - A new version of the Word template package is available.
This update includes a change to the criminal invoice Form 23D Fixed Fees A-C. The change inserts a sentencing preparation fee that can be claimed at courts where the Criminal Process Improvement programme (CPIP) duty lawyer policy is being piloted.
The template package can be downloaded with instructions from the Ministry website: Download Word template package | New Zealand Ministry of Justice(external link)
27/06/2024 - At courts where the Criminal Process Improvement Programme (CPIP) solutions for improving judge alone trials are being implemented, registrars are inviting defence lawyers to attend a teleconference to monitor case readiness prior a scheduled judge-alone trial date.
Hearing time may be claimed for attending a teleconference. Waiting time does not apply.
27/06/2024 Budget 2022 investment for Legal Aid Services allowed the Ministry to implement a 15% increase to the legal aid eligibility thresholds and 16.5% increase to the debt repayment thresholds. These were to be followed by an annual increase of 1.9% to both thresholds for the next three years.
Please find a resource with the new eligibility thresholds as of 1 July 2024.
(Updated LAS – Eligibility Resource) [PDF, 167 KB]
Legal Aid Services’ policies, including the grants handbook for providers will be updated prior to these changes coming into effect.
20/06/2024-The Ministry of Justice is improving how it engages with defaulters that have outstanding overdue legal aid debt.
When a legal aid case is closed a letter is sent to the client advising them of their final repayment amount (if there is one) and advising them to get in contact our Legal Aid Debt unit within 28 days of the case closing.
Many clients do not get in contact following this letter. To improve contact with clients who have outstanding repayment obligations, we will be introducing contact campaigns (e.g., letters, texts, and email) to clients with overdue legal aid debt. These aim to encourage these clients to contact our Legal Aid Debt department to discuss their debt.
If you get questions from previous clients who have been contacted, please encourage them to contact us on 0800 600 090.
Further information on legal aid debt is available on our website: www.justice.govt.nz/courts/going-to-court/legal-aid/do-you-need-to-pay-back-your-legal-aid/
5/06/2024 - The Ministry of Justice is changing how our rosters are displayed from Thursday 6th June 2024. The new rosters are modernised to provide you with an improved experience; this includes a finder tool which allows to access any location’s roster and filter across a range of dates. This change will not affect the current publishing cycles.
New webpages will be created for each roster type, and new links will be provided on Legal Aid Lawyer Rosters | New Zealand Ministry of Justice(external link), under the sections for mental health, warrant of commitment and duty lawyer. These links will direct you to these new rosters upon release of the new tool.
How to use the tool
At the roster page you will be presented with the tool’s selection criteria.
Select your desired criteria from the dropdown box and date picker, click “Get Roster/List” and the roster will display further down the page for your viewing.
If you wish, you may also print the roster using the button located at the bottom of the webpage.
For any questions or concerns, please contact us at duty.lawyer@justice.govt.nz
28/05/2024 - Have you been involved in a case that used communication assistance or interpreter services in the past 12 months?
This Satisfaction Survey seeks your feedback on two important court services:
The Ministry of Justice is running a short survey with the judiciary and legal professionals to gain feedback regarding the communication assistance and interpreter services. The Ministry of Justice will use the information from the survey to monitor the quality of services and guide ongoing improvement.
The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete and is available here: https://consultations.justice.govt.nz/nsd/bec529ad(external link).
Thank you in advance - your assistance is much appreciated. The survey will be open until 14 June 2024.
9/05/2024 - Storage devices such as hard drives can be funded under a legal aid grant for the purposes of providing disclosure or other documents to participants. This update applies to criminal, family and civil legal aid grants. Funding must first be requested and approved by way of an amendment to grant.
We have updated the Legal Aid Disbursement policy regarding the availability of funding for electronic storage devices such as portable hard drives and USB flash drives.
The policy has now been updated for criminal, family and civil legal aid grants, and these devices can now be funded by way of an amendment to grant.
Funding is only available if the following criteria are met:
When invoicing for a storage device, you must also include a copy of the GST receipt.
The Grants Handbook has been updated to reflect these changes.
If you have any questions about this updated policy, please contact AKLCriminallegalaid@justice.govt.nz or WGNCriminallegalaid@justice.govt.nz.
26/04/2024 - The specialist report fixed fee cannot be claimed for supervised contact reports. These reports are written by supervised contact organisations to advise the Court how the supervised contact sessions went and also provide any recommendations. As the $190 fixed fee cannot be claimed, the provider can submit an amendment to grant if required.
18/04/2024 Only Lawyers with Duty Lawyer Approval can act as Duty Lawyers.
If you would like to apply for approval to be a Duty Lawyer please refer to the Policy for Admission to Duty Lawyer Rosters(external link).
If you already have approval and would like to be added to the roster, please email the schedulers at duty.lawyer@justice.govt.nz.
14/03/2024 The Criminal Process Improvement Programme (CPIP) identified changes to the duty lawyer service as a key piece of work to help address backlogs and delays in the courts.
The new Duty Lawyer Operational Policy seeks to reduce the number of court events required by supporting timely case progression through a Duty Lawyer or urgently assigned lawyer who can represent a defendant.
The new Duty Lawyer Operational Policy is presently being piloted at three District Courts (Hamilton, Christchurch, and Hutt Valley). The pilots began in September 2023.
A review in January 2024 concluded that the pilots are delivering improved outcomes while fully safeguarding the fair trial rights of defendants.
The decision has been made to continue the new policy at the initial three sites and extend it to the four busiest Auckland region district courts. The opportunity to reduce backlogs and delays in the courts will be greatly expanded by extending the pilot to these courts.
The pilot is scheduled to commence on these dates:
25 March 2024 – Waitakere DC
08 April 2024 – North Shore DC
15 April 2024 – Manukau DC
27 May 2024 – Auckland DC.
Details of information sessions to be provided for the lawyers at each court for will be sent directly to you.
08/03/2024 - The Legal Services Amendment Act received Royal assent on 7 March 2024. This prevents the Legal Services Commissioner (the Commissioner) from funding written reports or in-person appearances, pursuant to section 27 of the Sentencing Act 2002. This change will take effect on Friday 22 March 2024.
Legal Aid Services (LAS) can continue to consider amendment to grant requests for section 27 matters until 22 March 2024.
To enable LAS to assess amendment to grants for section 27 report funding, please submit your requests by 12pm on Thursday 21 March 2024.
LAS will endeavour to assess new amendment to grant requests for section 27 report funding received after 12pm on 21 March 2024, and before 22 March 2024.
Providers can still submit invoices for a section 27 report, but only if the funding for the report was approved before 22 March 2024.
If you have any questions about amendment to grant submissions or invoicing, please contact WGNCriminallegalaid@justice.govt.nz or AKLCriminallegalaid@justice.govt.nz.
29/02/2024 - We have been recently experiencing technical difficulties with our computer system.
We are working hard to resolve these issues, however, this may result in longer processing times than you are used to. I apologise in advance, please bear with us.
We are working to restore normal service as soon as possible and have also allocated additional Ministry staff to assist with work volumes.
29/02/2024 - We have increased the Accommodation and Meals disbursement rate from 4 March 2024.
We have undertaken our annual review of the meals and accommodation disbursement for legal aid cases.
We have increased the maximum amount for overnight accommodation and meals to from $266.96 to $275.75 (excl. GST). Where an overnight stay is not required, the rate for meals has remained at $100.00 (excl. GST) per day. You can read more about this disbursement on page 130 of the grant’s handbook which can be found here: Grants handbook(external link)
The new maximum can be claimed on invoices received from 4 March 2024. Any invoices received prior to this date will be paid at the old rate.
In considering the increase, we have aligned the disbursement to the current Ministry expenditure guidelines. While there are no plans to undertake a full market review of the disbursement rates at this time, we intend to review this disbursement annually and will provide any further updates via What’s New for Legal Aid Lawyers in due course.
Thank you for your continued cooperation.
29/02/2024 - From January 2024, people who apply for protection orders without notice, which are then directed to proceed on notice by the judge, will be offered a safety programme before the protection order application is considered.
What does this mean for you?
Key points to note:
Background to the initiative:
This is the first phase of implementation for the Budget 23 initiative to ‘Improve access to family violence programmes in court and the community’ which will:
For further information on the Budget 23 initiative and its implementation, please see the summary of initiatives(external link), or contact moj-fvsv@justice.govt.nz with any questions.
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