Message from Secretary for Justice

Tēnā koutou katoa

As the year comes to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to all of you who undertake legal aid work. The work you do is critical to our justice system and to providing access to justice for New Zealanders. Your expertise is greatly appreciated.

We are aware that the current process for applying for approval to do legal aid work can be cumbersome – and may even have put some lawyers off applying.

As you may be aware, we have a project underway to streamline the approval and contracting process without compromising the quality of the service.

We have had positive feedback both internally and externally regarding the proposed changes, which we plan to launch in April 2020.

I want to thank everyone who has provided feedback to date. Your participation is critical to shaping the solutions and we are looking forward to working with you all in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a safe and merry Christmas, and a very happy new year.

Ka kite anō au i a koutou

Andrew Kibblewhite
Secretary for Justice