Budget 2024: Funding for Te Ao Mārama, legal aid stalled

Under the recently released Budget 2024, funding has stalled for Te Ao Mārama and the legal aid system.

Financing for the possible expansion of Te Ao Mārama has been placed on hold in contingency pending the Ministry of Justice’s review of the effectiveness of current programmes. According to budget documents, funding may be allocated for expansion if the efficacy of the programmes is proven.

“Timely and accessible justice is essential to a fair and effective justice system. Te Ao Mārama is aimed at ensuring all parties to a court matter can understand and participate in the process, and supports the need for timely justice”, Law Society Vice President David Campbell explained. “Te Ao Mārama promises better outcomes for all individuals interacting with the courts, including victims, whānau, and parties. This work is necessary, and the Law Society encourages continued commitment to this programme of work”.

Te Ao Mārama will continue to be implemented at current sites.

Legal aid

Budget 2024  also makes no additional investment in the legal aid system, leading the Law Society to question the scheme's ongoing viability and sustainability.

“We have been clear about this with successive governments now, and this year we provided further evidence to show that the costs of providing legal aid are increasing. Without fair remuneration, we will see a continuing reduction in the number of lawyers willing to provide legal aid”, Campbell said. “At a time when the judiciary is working hard to clear case backlogs, insufficient lawyers to assist the public will result in poor outcomes for families, individuals, and victims”.

Despite seeing a modest increase in hourly rates for legal aid in 2022, the Law Society noted that this should have been the start of continued investment in the system. Although overall funding has not been cut down, the Law Society expressed its disappointment that savings from the legal aid budget were returned instead of reinvested. The Budget 2024 Summary of Initiatives highlighted savings of:

• $3.144m over the next four years from “operational policy adjustments to ensure that decisions to grant legal aid are made consistently in accordance with the current settings of the Legal Services Act 2011”
• $18.868m over the next four years from “low demand” for initiatives such as COVID-19 resourcing

The Law Society pointed out that more funding could have been applied to review and enhance the administrative and operational requirements of legal aid provision. Moreover, the introduction of new offences proposed in the Gang Legislation Amendment Bill is likely to further stretch legal aid resources.

"Combined with the promise of more frontline police officers, we would not be surprised to see increased proceedings in court. With that comes the need to ensure those accused of an offence receive legal representation. Pressures are being increased from each direction", Campbell said. "We acknowledge that in the current climate, difficult decisions have to be made. However, our legal system performs an essential role in society. It does this in a range of ways, from the resolution of disputes to enabling people to access their rights and entitlements, delivering justice where wrongdoing is alleged, and even challenging or holding government to account. A history of underinvestment is putting this at risk".

In line with this, the Law Society has urged the government to commit to conducting a full review of the legal aid system, emphasising the need to address fair remuneration and the system’s overall sustainability. The last review of the legal aid system occurred in 2018.

"The Law Society has a long history of working productively with the Ministry of Justice on a range of issues, including legal aid. A review of the system would provide a real opportunity to address issues we have been raising for some time now, while also stepping back to consider what a sustainable and effective legal aid system looks like in 2024", Campbell said.