Lawyers question $32 million rise in legal aid spend in four years

Thursday, 1 March 2018

Legal aid costs have jumped 29 per cent over the past four years, despite just a marginal increase in the number of applications. 

NZ Law Society convenor of legal services Liz Bulger said the cost of flying in experts for trials and increased paper work had pushed up the bill.

'The real problem is getting experts for trials. Increasingly, because there's a shortage of pathologists, for example, defence counsels and the crown are having to go overseas. It's expensive.'

Law changes made to the Criminal Procedure Act in 2011 also created a more labour intensive process around legal aid, she said.

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'It creates a lot of administration with no real gain,' she said. 

Ministry of Justice figures showed a $32 million spike in spending on legal aid between 2013 and 2017.

The legal aid bill topped $144m in the last financial year, up from $112m in 2013. About 30 per cent of the bill came from Auckland.

While there have been annual fluctuations, the number of legal aid applications had only increased 0.6 per cent over the same period.

However, the Ministry of Justice confirmed there had been more legal aid applications for serious criminal cases during this time.

Liz Tennet, chief executive of Community Law Centres o Aotearoa, said she was perplexed by the rising bill when fewer lawyers were willing to take on legal aid cases.

'It seems strange that the costs have increased,' Tennet said. 

'We have seen a significant drop in the availability of legal aid lawyers and it has become an issue for us. 

'We have centres that are now funded to work on legal aid cases due to this drop.'

Ministry of Justice legal aid services manager Tracey Baguley said the rising costs can be traced back to a number of factors, including changes to the fixed fees and an increase in legal aid applications for serious criminal cases.

These types of criminal case applications included the possibility of a sentence of six months or more in prison. 

'Legal aid is a demand-driven service and if someone meets the criteria for legal aid, then they will receive it,' Baguley said.

There were now about 1864 lawyers contracted to provide legal aid services and the numbers have remained stable, she said.

Despite the increase, last year's legal aid bill was still below the peak of $168m in the 2009/10 financial year.

Outrage over the public cost of legal aid lead to the 2011 law reforms.