Legal Aid Lawyers Christchurch Nz

468 Responses to the consultation paper confirmed the existence of a number of serious barriers to women`s access to legal representation through civil legal aid. These include barriers that lead to inequalities between the people in the group that the system is supposed to help. The result, for example, comes from obstacles: no matter what stage of your relationship you have, our team of trusted advisors is here to support you. Whether you need help with a breakup or dissolution, ownership of a relationship or outsourcing agreements, our experienced relationship attorneys are here for you. 592 District legal services subcommittees have a number of discretionary powers regarding the financial eligibility of applicants and the application of the recovery mechanisms of the Legal Services Act. Available information suggests that the exercise of this discretion is uneven across constituencies. Part 1: Initial consultation with a lawyer. This consultation covers the client`s legal rights and obligations and legal options regarding the next steps they can take to resolve their dispute. 605 The Conseil des services juridiques has now made very clear its willingness to issue instructions on the practice of district subcommittee fees. However, it is expected that the Commission will not consider it necessary to issue instructions in developing the policy that should govern the granting of exemptions from the initial $50 contribution by subcommittees. One reason for this is likely that council is aware of the heavy workload of some district subcommittees and is concerned that attempts to ensure consistency and fairness in their decisions regarding the initial $50 contribution may be „the straw that breaks the camel`s back” to prevent lawyers from voluntarily providing their services in an increasingly „bureaucratized” regime.

If you have been charged with a crime or criminal offence, it is important that you contact our criminal justice team as soon as possible so that we can help you, give you legal advice, protect your rights and ensure that you are treated in accordance with the law. • the Conseil des services juridiques is developing a more comprehensive public education programme on legal aid in civil matters; 571 The net effect is that a legal aid recipient who owns a dwelling has the option of keeping his dwelling, but is subject to a burden vis-à-vis the Commission des services juridiques, which is likely to have more favourable repayment terms than a commercial mortgage. For example, fees in favour of the Commission des services juridiques may not need to be reimbursed before the sale of the apartment and even then, they may be transferred from one apartment to another. (Legal Services Act, § 49) However, as noted earlier, this aspect of the operation of the legal aid system was unknown to women who commented on the impact of fees on their households in favour of the commission. 584 Under the new measures, only lawyers who, in cases of clinical negligence, can demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to become a member of a group of accredited lawyers and who have been granted a franchise by the Legal Aid Board may provide legal assistance in such cases. The impact of limiting the number of lawyers who can act on behalf of these clients will likely be offset by the fact that admitted lawyers travel to individuals with potential claims who find it particularly difficult to visit law firms. A plan to publicise the new measures, including a free telephone service providing information on contract lawyers, is part of the package of amendments. The Lord Chancellor explained the reason for introducing these quality assurance measures: 597 Legal aid recipients who are most likely to be exempted from paying the initial USD 50 contribution are those initiating mental health proceedings. In the study, conducted on behalf of the Commission des services juridiques, 86% of beneficiaries obtained exemptions for mental health problems. (AC Nielsen MRL, 11) Of the total beneficiaries exempted (17 per cent of the total), the fact that psychiatric assistance was requested was the reason or justification given by the district subcommittee in 42 per cent of cases.

(AC Nielsen MRL, 66) 473 Civil legal aid thus provides a financial bridge to the existing civil justice system for low-income New Zealanders attempting to resolve disputes arising from the social facts of New Zealand life to which the law responds in a manner that Parliament deems appropriate. Given these far greater forces affecting the system, efforts to improve its effectiveness and efficiency cannot be limited to the four corners of the system itself. However, when considering the programme in the broader social and institutional context surrounding it, it is important to bear in mind that, as discussed below, New Zealand women have a particular interest in the current arrangements, regardless of their shortcomings. Accordingly, any further reform must be designed to meet the different needs of women. 610 Chapters 6 and 7 examine the provision of community legal services and the operation of the civil legal aid system. The following chapters discuss the regulation and provision of legal services provided by lawyers in private practice in general. 588 The fact that interim measures are being taken for the admission of New Zealand lawyers, at least in the area of family law practice, is relevant to the Board`s idea of adopting a new measure of „experience”. These measures are not without challenge, and if the board were to link a new measure of lawyers` „experience” to such accreditation systems, it would first have to ensure the integrity of these systems.

The uncertainty is such that this possible means of ensuring the quality of services receiving legal support is impractical in the short term. 551 The survey of New Zealand Law Society lawyers confirms that the complexity of the legal aid application process discourages applications. Of the 30% of lawyers who said they had not actively discussed or accessed legal aid, almost half (45%) cited long forms as a reason. (Lawyer Survey, 36) Similarly, the Commission des services juridiques` 1995 review of the Act respecting legal services indicated the following: 67% of respondents said that simplified forms were desirable. (Revision of the Legal Services Act 1991, 7) 583 In this context, it is pertinent to note that the broad package of civil justice reforms currently being introduced in England and Wales includes a system to ensure high quality services to clients of all publicly funded lawyers and other publicly funded legal service providers. The range of standards to be adopted for the various providers still needs to be developed. However, the quality standards introduced on 1 February 1999 for publicly funded lawyers in cases of clinical (medical) negligence give an indication of the standards and conditions to which English and Welsh lawyers practising in `specialisations` will be subject in the future. These measures were introduced after a study of clinical negligence cases revealed that, on average, specialist lawyers received more than twice as much compensation for their clients as non-expert lawyers.

Although specialist services cost the Legal Aid Board more on average than non-specialist services (£3300 versus £1800), for every £1 of these costs, specialists earned £4.10 in damages for their clients compared to £1.70 for non-experts.