Duty Lawyer and Cluster Numbers
I Brown made this Official Information request to Ministry of Justice
The request was partially successful.
From: I Brown
Dear Ministry of Justice,
Please provide the following information:
1. How many criminal legal aid providers presently have contracts with Legal Aid and take more than two cases per year (a year being 1 July to 30 June) for each of the years from 2017-2022 per court cluster as defined by legal aid; and
2. Of those:
a) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 1;
b) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 2;
c) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 3;
d) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 4;
(Please provide this information for each court cluster)
3. How many legal aid providers presently have a duty lawyer rating (whether or not they are on a current duty lawyer roster); and
4. How many providers are currently on a duty lawyer roster as of today's date for the country as a whole; and
5. How many providers are on each individual roster as of today's date (please give court name and number of duty lawyers on that court's roster).
Yours faithfully,
I Brown
From: OIA@justice.govt.nz
Ministry of Justice
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From: OIA@justice.govt.nz
Ministry of Justice
Kai ora,
Thank you for your Official Information Act Request.
The Ministry of Justice acknowledges receipt of your request relating to Legal Aid lawyers.
Your request has been passed onto the relevant business unit for response .
You can expect a response by 02/12/2022.
Nga mihi,
Ministrerial Relations and Services
Governance and Assurance
Strategy, Governance and Assurance
04 918 8800 | Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture www.justice.govt.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: I Brown <[FOI #21036 email]>
Sent: Friday, 4 November 2022 9:49 am
To: [Ministry of Justice request email]
Subject: Official Information request - Duty Lawyer and Cluster Numbers
Dear Ministry of Justice,
Please provide the following information:
1. How many criminal legal aid providers presently have contracts with Legal Aid and take more than two cases per year (a year being 1 July to 30 June) for each of the years from 2017-2022 per court cluster as defined by legal aid; and 2. Of those:
a) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 1;
b) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 2;
c) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 3;
d) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 4; (Please provide this information for each court cluster) 3. How many legal aid providers presently have a duty lawyer rating (whether or not they are on a current duty lawyer roster); and 4. How many providers are currently on a duty lawyer roster as of today's date for the country as a whole; and 5. How many providers are on each individual roster as of today's date (please give court name and number of duty lawyers on that court's roster).
Yours faithfully,
I Brown
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From: OIA@justice.govt.nz
Ministry of Justice
Kia ora I Brown
Please find attached the decision letter regarding your OIA request.
Nga mihi,
Camilo Ardiles
Advisor| Ministerial Relations and Services
Ministry of Justice | Tahū o te Ture
Office of the Chief Executive
-----Original Message-----
From: I Brown <[FOI #21036 email]>
Sent: Friday, 4 November 2022 9:49 am
To: [Ministry of Justice request email]
Subject: Official Information request - Duty Lawyer and Cluster Numbers
Dear Ministry of Justice,
Please provide the following information:
1. How many criminal legal aid providers presently have contracts with Legal Aid and take more than two cases per year (a year being 1 July to 30 June) for each of the years from 2017-2022 per court cluster as defined by legal aid; and 2. Of those:
a) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 1;
b) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 2;
c) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 3;
d) How many have a highest approval level of PAL 4; (Please provide this information for each court cluster) 3. How many legal aid providers presently have a duty lawyer rating (whether or not they are on a current duty lawyer roster); and 4. How many providers are currently on a duty lawyer roster as of today's date for the country as a whole; and 5. How many providers are on each individual roster as of today's date (please give court name and number of duty lawyers on that court's roster).
Yours faithfully,
I Brown
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #21036 email]
Is [Ministry of Justice request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Ministry of Justice? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
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From: May, Annie
Ministry of Justice
Kia ora
Please find attached a response to your OIA regarding Legal Aid providers.
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2]www.justice.govt.nz
References
Visible links
2. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
From: I Brown
Dear May, Annie,
Many thanks for the reply. I do note that the response to question 5 appears to be incomplete. Table 1 of Appendix B only gives the number of PDS lawyers rostered for PDS courts. My question asked for "How many providers are on each individual roster", which means that for a PDS supervised court, the count should include both PDS and non-PDS duty lawyers on that court roster.
I am also curious how the numbers at Table 2 of Appendix B are arrived at. I have compared the answers with duty lawyer rosters as displayed on the MOJ website. Just working alphabetically and taking the first few, I note that, by way of example:
Ashburton is said to have eight duty lawyers on the roster but the roster that is shown for that court online has only three.
Blenheim is said to seven duty lawyers but the roster only has six.
Dannevirke is said to have three duty lawyers but the roster for that court has four.
Dargaville is said to have seven duty lawyers but the roster for that court only has five.
Gore is said to have seven duty lawyers but the roster only has five.
Westport is said to have four duty lawyers but the roster only has two.
Masterton is said to have ten duty lawyers but the roster only has six.
Can I please have these to issues clarified?
Thank you,
I Brown
From: May, Annie
Ministry of Justice
Kia l Brown
Thank you very much for your follow-up questions.
I'll forward this on to the OIA team and come back to you.
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2]www.justice.govt.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: I Brown <[FYI request #21036 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 20 December 2022 10:20 pm
To: May, Annie <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Your OIA regarding Legal Aid providers
Dear May, Annie,
Many thanks for the reply. I do note that the response to question 5
appears to be incomplete. Table 1 of Appendix B only gives the number of
PDS lawyers rostered for PDS courts. My question asked for "How many
providers are on each individual roster", which means that for a PDS
supervised court, the count should include both PDS and non-PDS duty
lawyers on that court roster.
I am also curious how the numbers at Table 2 of Appendix B are arrived
at. I have compared the answers with duty lawyer rosters as displayed on
the MOJ website. Just working alphabetically and taking the first few, I
note that, by way of example:
Ashburton is said to have eight duty lawyers on the roster but the roster
that is shown for that court online has only three.
Blenheim is said to seven duty lawyers but the roster only has six.
Dannevirke is said to have three duty lawyers but the roster for that
court has four.
Dargaville is said to have seven duty lawyers but the roster for that
court only has five.
Gore is said to have seven duty lawyers but the roster only has five.
Westport is said to have four duty lawyers but the roster only has two.
Masterton is said to have ten duty lawyers but the roster only has six.
Can I please have these to issues clarified?
Thank you,
I Brown
-----Original Message-----
Kia ora
Please find attached a response to your OIA regarding Legal Aid providers.
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
[3]http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2][4]www.justice.govt.nz
References
Visible links
2. [5]http://www.justice.govt.nz/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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[6][FYI request #21036 email]
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the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[7]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
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3. http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
4. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
5. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
6. mailto:[FYI request #21036 email]
7. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
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From: I Brown
Dear May, Annie,
Thank you very much for following that up.
The duty lawyer question may just be that PDS lawyers don't need to have been approved as duty lawyers to act as duty lawyers at court. I say this because for courts where the PDS has a presence, the total number of PDS lawyers given is 334, but the reply earlier says that just 125 PDS lawyers have approval as duty lawyers. Unless, as noted for private duty lawyers, some PDS lawyers in fact cover more than one court as duty lawyers?
Yours sincerely,
I Brown
From: May, Annie
Ministry of Justice
Kia ora ano
Thanks for that.
I'll pass it on....
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2]www.justice.govt.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: I Brown <[FYI request #21036 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 21 December 2022 1:30 pm
To: May, Annie <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Your OIA regarding Legal Aid providers
Dear May, Annie,
Thank you very much for following that up.
The duty lawyer question may just be that PDS lawyers don't need to have
been approved as duty lawyers to act as duty lawyers at court. I say this
because for courts where the PDS has a presence, the total number of PDS
lawyers given is 334, but the reply earlier says that just 125 PDS lawyers
have approval as duty lawyers. Unless, as noted for private duty lawyers,
some PDS lawyers in fact cover more than one court as duty lawyers?
Yours sincerely,
I Brown
-----Original Message-----
Kia l Brown
Thank you very much for your follow-up questions.
I'll forward this on to the OIA team and come back to you.
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
[3]http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2][4]www.justice.govt.nz
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[5][FYI request #21036 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
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3. http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
4. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
5. mailto:[FYI request #21036 email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
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From: I Brown
Dear May, Annie,
I am just wondering if I am going to get a reply to my question?
Yours sincerely,
I Brown
From: May, Annie
Ministry of Justice
Kia ora l Brown
My apologies for the late acknowledgment of this email.
I've been having email troubles all day - storm-related, I think - and
just found it.
I'll contact the team and come back to you.
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2]www.justice.govt.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: I Brown <[FOI #21036 email]>
Sent: Monday, 13 February 2023 11:04 pm
To: May, Annie <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Your OIA regarding Legal Aid providers
Dear May, Annie,
I am just wondering if I am going to get a reply to my question?
Yours sincerely,
I Brown
-----Original Message-----
Kia ora ano
Thanks for that.
I'll pass it on....
Ngā mihi
Annie
[1]Description: Annie May
[3]http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
Senior
Advisor (Communications)
Ph: 027 291 7573
[2][4]www.justice.govt.nz
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[5][FOI #21036 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
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3. http://justice.govt.nz/courts/shared/jus...
4. http://www.justice.govt.nz/
5. mailto:[FOI #21036 email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
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