There’s no fee to apply to the Legal Aid Tribunal.
If you want to apply to the tribunal, you must do so within 20 working days of the Commissioner’s review decision.
In exceptional circumstances, you can ask the tribunal to give you an extension when you apply for a review. There’s a space in the application form for you to explain why the tribunal should consider your application even if it’s late. You must file your late application no later than 3 months after the date of the Commissioner’s review decision.
To apply to the tribunal, fill in the Application for Legal Aid Tribunal review form and send it to us. Make sure you include copies of documents to support your application, including a copy of the Commissioner’s review decision. All documents in your application must be in English and in PDF format.
You can’t send the tribunal any information that was not given to the Commissioner at the time they made their original decision.
Application for Legal Aid Tribunal review [PDF, 1.6 MB]
Postal address:
Legal Aid Tribunal
Tribunals Unit
DX SX 11159
Wellington
Email: tribunals@justice.govt.nz
You can present your own case or have a lawyer, or advocate, present it for you.
You can appoint an advocate to act for you. They don’t need to be a lawyer – any person can be your advocate provided they have your written authority to do so.
The tribunal will communicate directly with your advocate.
Both you and your advocate need to sign this form:
Authority to Act [PDF, 179 KB]
If you hire a lawyer, you may be able to get legal aid to help with legal costs. A lawyer, your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Community Law Centre can tell you more about this.
During the review, you must let the tribunal know in writing if there are any changes to:
This page was last updated: