KEY POINTS:
To say that the rule of law lies at the foundation of our society seems rather trite. Yet, the recent suggestion to nearly halve the funding of community law centres reminds us what the rule of law actually represents.
Historically, the rule of law was devised so as to restrain the arbitrary power of monarchs and despots. The principle of nulla poena sine lege, or "no penalty without law", has informed legal relations between governments and governed of liberal democracies for nearly 200 years.
Even today, the rule of law is used as a barometer - based on standards of liberty, fairness and full access to justice - by which we measure a state's democratic credentials.
According to these standards, cutting funding to community law centres by 44 per cent because their funding source - interest on house settlement money in lawyers' trust accounts - is drying up undermines the rule of law, for it erodes the access of New Zealanders to our legal system.
Community law centres provide a substantial share of the legal support received across the country. Indeed, the centres' creativity and tenacity in this regard are nothing short of admirable.
At one end, they compile, publish and distribute important legal information including self-help guides on protection orders, fines and infringements, police powers and custodial issues.
Documents such as these are helpful in educating New Zealanders about the law and their rights, and in dealing with legal problems in a cost-effective manner, essentially by avoiding the expensive lawyers' fees that individuals would otherwise incur.
On another front, they actively assist low-income clients before state agencies and courts who otherwise would receive neither advice nor representation. And in addition to championing Bill of Rights complaints and public law challenges against important state decisions, they help mediate family disputes, file ACC petitions, challenge consumer rights and tenancy violations and provide employment law-related advice.
In short, community law centres ensure that all who need access to justice receive it. They are a practical and necessary component in the advancement of the rule of law - hence the confusion and controversy surrounding the Legal Services Agency's budget cut announcement.
Without these centres, many of the legal needs of our nation's most vulnerable groups would go unmet as the sheer cost of legal representation would prohibit all but the most affluent from accessing legal services.
As detailed in the Herald this month, the slashing of their funding has to do with the downturn in the housing market.
Yet, as a petition being circulated by a coalition of the centres confirms, their budget is quite trivial, amounting to roughly $11 million a year for all centres across the country. These are centres, it should be noted, that service communities of tens of thousands of people. This figure pales even more when placed alongside the millions of dollars the state is spending on stimulating the economy.
In fact, deteriorating economic conditions intensify the need for widespread access to legal advice and representation. As the economy worsens, we observe a steep hike in legal disputes. Financial institutions ratchet up their efforts against defaulting debtors.
The defaulters are disproportionately working class, who are bearing the brunt of the spike in job losses.
Economic insecurity leads to desperation, which has repercussions in areas including family relations, health and housing; areas expressly serviced by community law centres.
To abandon organisations supporting the marginalised of society during a crisis is short-sighted. A state's democratic resolve and its commitment to the rule of law are tested not during peaceable moments but during trying times.
Eight years ago, Americans failed such a test when they jettisoned civil rights protections out of hysteria and irrationality. Under a new administration, they are busily trying to correct those mistakes.
New Zealand faces a different challenge. But it is best if we learn from their errors and not abandon our commitment to justice too quickly in search of short-term economic gain. The rule of law demands as much.
* Mohsen al Attar is a lecturer in the faculty of law at the University of Auckland.
