Legal Aid Overhaul
I'm glad the Legal Services Agency has been put under the spot light.
It's there to loan people money (legal aid) who could otherwise not afford it, to ensure that they have access to justice.
The problem is that there is a perception that the system is being extorted by a group of lawyers (TV1 news reports up to 200!), and people bringing frivolous cases (if you have no money and no assets, then you may not care about the size of the debt you acquire from the Legal Services Agency).
For example, I consider the case of the gang members who were evicted by Housing NZ for harassing their neighbours, and damaging the house they were in as frivolous. Last I heard they were trying to take the case to the Supreme Court because they lost all the other cases they had tried. Do we really need to keep funding appeal after appeal?
The 200 or so lawyers that have been identified have been deliberately causing cases to take longer than needed by filing needless motions. They know the system, and are purely using the system to line their own pockets.
Of course being lawyers, I expect they will vigorously oppose the changes.
And why haven't the District Law Societies stepped in and censured their own members - who they must know are doing this? Or is it simply that lawyers can not police lawyers?
They have let their own industry fall into a state of dis-repute.
So what say you? Time to give criminal lawyers a big shake up? Time to make them more accountable? Time to make them clean up their own industry?
And how do we maintain the balance, to ensure those that really do need help getting justice - get an opportunity to put their case?
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