Simon Power

Wellington, April 8 NZPA - Proposed changes to the legal aid system have been welcomed by the Opposition.

Under the proposals announced by Justice Minister Simon Power yesterday, legal aid lawyers will have to demonstrate competency to a selection committee with performance monitored and have sanctions imposed where appropriate. Lawyers will also have to re-apply after a fixed term (usually three years).

The test was one of the recommendations of a damning review of legal aid by Dame Margaret Bazley, which the Government has already said it would largely accept.

Labour leader Phil Goff said while many people involved in the legal aid system did a good job there were those who were "down right incompetent".

"And I think you do need to have a check against competency and I think that's a good thing," he told TV3's Sunrise programme this morning.

He said he was also pleased with the proposed extension of the Public Defence Service.

"They (lawyers) don't make the case longer than it needs to be in order to increase their hours, they've got no vested interest in getting paid for longer hours. They've got a vested interest in doing the best job they can."

Dame Margaret's report said some lawyers and defendants were "abusing the system to the detriment of clients, the legal aid system, the courts and the taxpayer".

She believed there was evidence that many lawyers had been acting corruptly in doing their work.

The accusations were furiously denied by many in the legal fraternity and the Law Society said today it doubted many of its members would be tripped up the new competency tests.

However, the change will require laws changes to be drafted and passed through Parliament, which could be about a year away.

The new legal aid system will also include:

* expansion of the Public Defence Service to Wellington, Christchurch, and Hamilton. The service provides legal aid through salaried staff rather than contracted lawyers;

* appointment of supervisors and enhancement of criteria for selecting duty solicitors;

* streamlining of processes for assessing applications for low-cost criminal cases in the summary jurisdiction; and

* replacement of the Legal Aid Review Panel with a Legal Aid Tribunal, to increase transparency in decision making.

Mr Power said he was confident the changes would improve the quality and efficiency of the service.

Amending legislation is required to implement many of the changes, and will be introduced to Parliament this year.

Last year there were 85,156 legal aid grants, costing taxpayers $131 million.