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The
New Zealand Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux has welcomed
the drop in Disputes Tribunal fees announced by the government today,
but says that until the fees are removed completely, they will continue
to act as a barrier for people on low incomes seeking justice.
Nick
Toonen, the Association's Chief Executive Officer, is pleased the
government is moving in the right direction.
"We
congratulate the Minister for Courts on carrying out a review of
the civil court fee structure and for listening to Citizens Advice
Bureau and other community organisations about the fact that any
fee for the Disputes Tribunal limits access to justice.
"When
the fees were increased in 1998, the Department for Courts reported
a 10 percent decrease in use of the Tribunal during the first six
months, which is exactly what we had anticipated. This is also consistent
with our experience of a drop-off in the number of clients wanting
to use the Disputes Tribunal. Many of our clients don't have the
money required to take a case to the Disputes Tribunal.
"While
we are pleased to see that the cost of lodging a claim for amounts
over $1,000 has been reduced, the fact remains that for claims under
$1,000 the fee has not changed. We originally called for the fees
to be abolished, so the fact that they haven't addressed this lower
end fee is of great concern to us.
"Many
of the people who come to Citizens Advice Bureau are on low incomes
and have great difficulty in paying this fee. This demonstrates
that people on low incomes do not have the same access to justice
as those on higher incomes. The Disputes Tribunal was set up to
provide an accessible and effective resolution for people with smaller
scale civil disputes without the need to involve lawyers, and we
believe its accessibility is compromised by the fees.
"We'll
continue to monitor the impact of fees on our clients and advocate
for the removal of the Disputes Tribunal fees."
[Click
here for a copy of the Submission]
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