Category: Crime

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Auckland duty lawyer isn’t ruling out further action, after not working for a week to raise awareness for poor pay and conditions.

Duty lawyers are paid by the Justice Ministry to give free legal advice to those appearing in court who cannot afford a lawyer.

Last year, some duty lawyers announced they would make themselves unavailable to work for a week in January.

Dennis Ansley has been a duty lawyer in Auckland for more than 38 years and told RNZ other lawyers were pulled in to plug the gap during last week’s industrial action.

“The Ministry [of Justice] brought in people from other courts, including Tauranga, and replaced those of us on the roster, who were taking industrial action,” he said. “There was very little disruption to the courts, except there were new lawyers here that didn’t know the system in Auckland.”

He said their message had been delivered.

“We’ve got publicity, we’ve got awareness now,” he said. “People are talking about it.”

Ansley said he had messages of support from other lawyers.

“I’ve had a lot of calls since from lawyers all over the country, as far as Southland, who had read about what happened and offered their support.”

Communication had been an issue, Ansley said.

“If we plan something next time – and I’ve already got something in mind – the communication will be far better,” he said.

Potential future action would be better planned and more effective, Ansley said, although he hoped more industrial action wouldn’t be necessary.

He said he had yet to hear from the justice minister or ministry.

“Talk to us,” he urged officials. “Instigate the recommendation from the review of the duty lawyer scheme, which was to urgently look at our remuneration, because of the problems with attraction and retention of lawyers onto the duty lawyer roster.

“It’s in a crisis stage now and it needs to be addressed.”

Ansley said that review was with the minister.

The Criminal Bar Association said the hourly rates and work conditions imposed on duty lawyers were far below those of lawyers in private practice.

President Annabel Cresswell said they stood with duty lawyers for a country where everyone could access justice, no matter their income.

“The treatment and pay provided to duty lawyers by successive governments has made this work unsustainable or even unsafe,” she said. “That is, in turn, a breach of the rights of all New Zealanders to access justice and fairness in our courts.”

Cresswell said duty lawyers spent every day at the frontlines of an under-resourced justice system.

“They take care of those who cannot afford legal fees in the most high-pressured conditions, dealing with addiction issues and mental health challenges.

“This service needs to be preserved.”

The government must support duty lawyers to protect the right of the most vulnerable in court, Cresswell said.

Ministry of Justice acting national service delivery group manager Louisa Carroll said the courts were not disrupted during the industrial action.

“The ministry was advised of a possible reduction in duty lawyer availability in Auckland, Christchurch and Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay,” she said. “Only one duty lawyer from a different region was rostered to maintain coverage, in accordance with the Duty Lawyer Operational Policy.”

Local duty lawyers were rostered where possible, she said.

“The Legal Aid Triennial review includes a review of remuneration across the legal aid scheme, including proposals related to the duty lawyer service that were outlined in the discussion document.

“The proposals are currently with the minister for consideration.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand