Legal aid pay too low, say Law Society

Competent lawyers were turning away legal aid cases because they could not afford to do the work, the Law Society said yesterday.

Society president Chris Darlow said it could be a contributing factor to miscarriages of justice.

Last week, a report by retired High Court judge Sir Thomas Thorp revealed that up to 20 people may be wrongly imprisoned in New Zealand.

Sir Thomas has called for an independent authority to be set up to identify miscarriages of justice.

"Perhaps one of the reasons miscarriages of justice are occurring is that competent lawyers are turning away legal aid cases because they can't afford to do the work," Mr Darlow said.

In December the Law Society sent a letter to Justice Minister Mark Burton urging a full review of legal aid rates.

The letter said current rates, which remained at 1996 levels, were not fair. Rates needed an annual review and should be matched with those of Crown solicitors.

"If the situation is left, the Government will ultimately fail in the discharge of its fundamental obligation to provide an effective legal aid scheme," Mr Darlow wrote.

The Law Society was not seeking premium rates. Lawyers were prepared to take legal aid cases at a discount as part of their professional commitment.

"There is a limit, however, and a feeling of unfair exploitation is prevalent," he wrote.

The society said there should be no distinction between rates paid for cases in the civil, family or criminal jurisdictions. It also warned that unless rates were increased, access to justice would be curtailed.

Legal aid rates were particularly problematic in criminal cases, where defence lawyers were paid so much less than Crown prosecutors that the principle of the right to a fair trial was compromised.

On an hourly rate, junior Crown solicitors were paid $141 and legal aid lawyers $100-$135.

Senior Crown solicitors were paid $216 an hour and legal aid lawyers $130-$165.

Crown solicitors were paid up to $143 an hour for travel, while legal aid lawyers were paid $70.

Legal aid lawyers could not offer the best service to their clients if they had to accept an unreasonably high workload to cover expenses or could not afford research or secretarial support.

In addition, Crown prosecutors were allocated more paid hours for preparation of a case, in some cases double that allowed for the legally aided defence.

Mr Darlow said a legal aid system that was financially disadvantaged increased the likelihood of less-experienced lawyers undertaking legal aid work.

- NZPA