What is legal aid?
What kinds of legal aid are available?
What can’t I get civil legal aid for?
How do I get legal aid for a civil / family matter?
How do I get legal aid to defend charges made against me?
What is the Public Defence Service?
How much legal aid will I get?
I applied for legal aid, but the Legal Aid office said I didn’t need it. Can I do anything more?
I’ve had my legal aid lawyer for a month, and I don’t think he’s very good. Am I stuck with him?
What is legal aid?
The legal aid scheme ensures that people who can’t afford to hire a lawyer get legal representation, and complements the Police Detention Legal Assistance scheme and the Duty Lawyer scheme:
- the Police Detention Legal Assistance (PDLA) scheme allows you access to a lawyer if you have been arrested or are being held by the Police (also see our information about Police and the individual
- the Duty Lawyer scheme, also known as the Duty Solicitor scheme provides free legal help on your first day at court, if you have been charged with an offence and don’t have your own lawyer
What kinds of legal aid are available?
There are two main types of legal aid:
- Criminal: available for people charged with a criminal offence (e.g. assault, drug offences, arson, murder or manslaughter).
- Civil: available for private disputes and non-criminal problems that might go to court (such as relationship property problems or protection orders against domestic violence). It may also available for mediation to solve disputes that otherwise would go to court.
They have different forms and processes. You should be aware that you might have to pay some or all of your legal aid back. You can apply for legal aid even if you don’t live here permanently, and if you are not a New Zealand citizen.
What can’t I get civil legal aid for?
- Divorce
- Problems that would not go to court
- Immigration matters (except for refugee matters)
- Companies or groups of people (apart from occasional Waitangi Tribunal cases)
- Reviews by Work and Income
- Problems with schools, universities and other educational institutions
- Disputes Tribunal cases
- Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal cases
How do I get legal aid for a civil / family matter?
You should apply for legal aid as soon as you have received a summons to go to court.
If you are applying for civil/family legal aid, start by finding a lawyer (see our information on finding a lawyer or check the Ministry of Justice list of legal aid lawyers). Check that the lawyer does legal aid work, and that they are able to represent you. Your lawyer will help you to apply for legal aid.
How do I get legal aid to defend criminal charges against me?
If you’ve been charged with a criminal offence and can’t afford a lawyer, you should apply for legal aid as soon as you have been charged or receive a summons to go to court. You can either:
- Go to the nearest District Court and ask for the duty lawyer to help you apply. If the duty lawyer is not available, a volunteer (e.g. Friends of the Court or Matua Whangai worker) may be available to help you.
- Go to the nearest Legal Aid office
If your application for legal aid is accepted, you will get a letter telling you the name of the legal aid lawyer who has been assigned to you. If you’ve been charged with a very serious offence and could go to prison for more than 10 years, you may choose a lawyer to represent you if you already have one (they have to be approved by the Ministry of Justice), or be assigned a lawyer if you don’t. In some areas you may be assigned a lawyer from the Public Defence Service.
What is the Public Defence Service?
The Public Defence Service (PDS) is a service funded by the Ministry of Justice. These are criminal lawyers employed by the Ministry to take on legal aid cases. Lawyers employed by the PDS have the same responsibilities as all legal aid lawyers to give you independent advice and act in your best interests.
How much legal aid will I get?
You applications for legal aid are processed by a Legal Aid office. The grants officer at the Legal Aid Office decides how long a case should take, and work out the hourly rate based on the lawyer’s experience and the type of case.
There may be conditions put on your grant of legal aid, and if these conditions are not met, or you don’t make your repayments, then your legal aid can be cut off. It can also be withdrawn because of a change in your financial circumstances, or for other reasons.
I applied for legal aid, but the Legal Aid office said I didn't need it. Can I do anything more?
If you want to challenge the decision, you can apply to the Legal Services Commissioner to reconsider the decision. You need to say in your application why the decision should be reconsidered and it should be sent to the same Legal Aid office that you have been dealing with.
Your appeal has to be made within 20 working days of receiving notification about the decision.
It normally takes about 15 working days for a decision to be made about your reconsideration.
If you are unsuccessful in having the decision changed in your favour, you can apply to the Legal Aid Tribunal to review the Legal Services Commissioner's reconsideration decision. In general, you need to have asked for reconsideration first, before approaching the Legal Aid Tribunal.
You can get help with applying to the Legal Aid Tribunal from:
You can also make an appeal about;
- The amount of legal aid you are granted
- How much of your legal aid you have to repay
I’ve had my legal aid lawyer for a month, and I don’t think he’s very good. Am I stuck with him?
If you’ve been assigned a lawyer for a criminal case, and the relationship between the two of you has broken down, you can ask to be reassigned to another lawyer. Contact your local Legal Aid office and explain to them why you want a different lawyer. Generally you can only ask to be reassigned a new lawyer once.
For family/civil cases, if you’re honestly unhappy about your legal aid lawyer and you are unable to resolve it by talking about it to them directly about your concerns, you can change lawyers. Your new lawyer will need to apply on your behalf for your legal aid grant to be redirected.
You can complain about a legal aid lawyer by writing to the Complaints Officer at the Ministry of Justice:
Complaints,
Legal Services and Treaty Group,
Ministry of Justice,
19 Aitken Street, SX10146
Wellington
Fax 04 495 5912
Phone 04 495 6574
Email complaints@justice.govt.nz
If you have serious concerns about your lawyer you can also make a complaint to the New Zealand Law Society.