Changes to Legal Aid Payment System Welcomed

Auckland District Law Society Inc Welcomes Changes to Legal Aid Fixed Fee Payment System

Auckland, 21 June 2013 – The Auckland District Law Society Incorporated (ADLSI) today welcomed the decision from the Legal Services Commissioner regarding legal aid payments for criminal barristers.

ADLSI Criminal Law Committee Convenor barrister Marie Dyhrberg says that the legal profession and barristers in particular, should be encouraged by the latest developments.

“Limiting legal aid payments would have impacted the way criminal barristers defend their clients, and could have resulted in unsafe convictions.

“It is pleasing to see greater flexibility in the regime and the ability to depart from fixed fees where circumstances require.

“We look forward to learning more about the details as well as seeing how the guidelines work from a practical perspective. We hope that this common-sense approach could be applied to legal aid funding for other areas such as family law.”

ADLSI was a strong financial and moral supporter of the Criminal Bar Association’s legal action against the Attorney-General.

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