Improving Access to Civil Justice

The Ministry of Justice is supporting work to create a more user-centred civil justice system. The civil justice system deals with a wide range of people’s legal disputes, including those related to employment, consumer rights, debt, and families and relationships.

In March 2020, the Chief Justice, the Rt Hon Dame Helen Winkelmann, and Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite, convened a workshop bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders in the civil justice system. They heard from people working in the system that it is complex and multi-faceted, and that different people and organisations are experts in different parts of the system.

Stakeholders told us that the system needs to be more user focused, and that better data is needed about those who use it. The Access to Justice Advisory Group is co-chaired by Ministry and judicial representatives and was established to bring to life ideas from the workshop. The group is supporting work in several areas to improve access to civil justice including:

  • a national strategic framework, to guide how we work together to improve access to civil justice in Aotearoa New Zealand
  • a legal needs survey to collect data on the prevalence of met and unmet legal need for civil justice.

Wayfinding for Civil Justice - A national strategy for working together to improve access to civil justice in Aotearoa New Zealand

Wayfinding for Civil Justice (Wayfinding) is a national strategy for access to civil justice. Civil Justice stakeholders led its development, and it was released in December 2023. You can read the full strategy in both   English [PDF, 1.4 MB] and  Te Reo [PDF, 1.5 MB].

Wayfinding aims to:

  • encourage a unified and coordinated approach to improving access to civil justice
  • use the sector’s resources as strategically as possible, and
  • provide clear signals to funders of access to justice mahi (government and non-government) about existing work, where the gaps are, and where co-ordination can be achieved.

Wayfinding supports a unified approach by setting a shared direction for improving access to civil justice. Those working in the civil justice sector can use Wayfinding to inform how they select, coordinate, and plan their civil justice initiatives.

Wayfinding includes goals or waypoints for guiding work programme selection. It also includes principles or guiding lights, which can be used as a guide for how those in the civil justice sector work.

Wayfinding is not a government strategy. It has government support, but it is a stakeholder strategy developed by a representative working group. The working group included Dr Bridgette Toy-Cronin, Hon. Raynor Asher KC, Wi Pere Mita, Gabrielle O’Brien and Anne Waapu. You can read more about the working group here.

The process for developing Wayfinding included two rounds of engagement to reflect the expertise and experience of people working or involved in the civil justice sector.

For more details about the project see our FAQs.

For further information please contact: wayfinding@justice.govt.nz

Legal Needs Survey

Together with the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, the Ministry of Justice has conducted a nationwide survey to explore how New Zealanders are resolving their legal problems.

Legal need arises when people or businesses require legal assistance or support from legal services to resolve their issues. Legal issues resolved through the formal justice system, such as the courts, only capture part of the picture of legal need in New Zealand.

The survey updates and adds to research conducted by the Ministry of Justice in 2018, looking at civil justice issues. Civil legal need can arise from everyday activities, including buying goods and services, employment, financial arrangements, driving a vehicle, renting, or buying housing, breaching a criminal or civil order and interactions with local and central government. 

The survey looks at legal needs experienced by more than 5,000 New Zealand adults with particular focus on:

  • small business owners

  • Māori and Pasifika communities

  • people residing in rural/non-metropolitan areas.

The phone survey of randomly selected New Zealanders took place during late 2023.

By using a random sample, the survey captured people who do not realise their problem or issue has a legal solution and may leave it unresolved. These people do not traditionally show up in data looking at the use of justice services.

Some of the key findings include:

  • In the preceding year, a third of the population have experienced an issue which could be resolved through legal action.
  • Certain groups were more likely to encounter legal issues. The most likely being disabled people, LGBT+ People, single parents, Māori, and those with low savings.
  • Ten percent of the population experience 77 percent of the issues.
  • Issues were often resolved via mutual agreement between the parties (35 percent being resolved this way). 64 percent of respondents said the help they obtained helped resolve their issue.
  • For eight percent of issues people did nothing at all, usually because they felt it would make no difference, wasn’t very important, would take too long, or be too stressful.
  • Almost four in ten businesses experience at least one issue or dispute during the year. The most common are consumer debt or late payments, and customer complaints.

The Ministry of Justice will use the findings to inform the development of projects and policies across government. We also plan to link the data with other government data in Statistics New Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) so that approved researchers can look at other factors that may be affecting legal needs.

You can read the reports here:

Access to Justice Legal Needs Survey Final Report - October 2024 [PDF, 1.5 MB]

Access to Justice Business Survey Final Report - October 2024 [PDF, 767 KB]

Access to Justice Technical Survey Report - October 2024 [PDF, 1.2 MB]

Legal Needs Survey - General Population Survey - Summary Infographic [PDF, 607 KB]

For more details about the project see our FAQs.

For further information about the survey please contact: legalneedssurvey2023@justice.govt.nz

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