Legal aid applications should be filed by independent court officials - not lawyers who benefit from the system, a Whangarei barrister says.
David Sayes believes legal aid applications needed to be filled out by someone independent, such as Ministry of Justice staff.
"I don't think it's right that those who benefit from legal aid are also responsible for the filling out of applications, and indeed, making judgment calls as to whether someone requires legal aid," he said.
Mr Sayes said the time had come for Northland to have a public defence office, as he believed it would be more cost effective than the current legal aid system.
"You could probably have six lawyers, and six public defenders who could deal with all guilty pleas, sentencings and defended hearings," Mr Sayes added.
