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[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
19 December 2022
I Brown
[FYI request #21036 email]
Our ref: OIA 100591
Tēnā koe I Brown
Official Information Act request: Criminal legal aid providers
Thank you for your email of 4 November 2022 to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry), in which you
request information about criminal legal aid providers.
Your request has been referred to me for a response as it falls within my responsibilities as
Group Manager, National Service Delivery, and is being managed under the provisions of the
Official Information Act 1982.
I will respond to each part of your request in turn.
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;
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)
In response to questions 1 and 2, please refer to Tables 1-5 in the attached appendix, which show
criminal legal aid providers with more than two cases assigned by court cluster and Provider
Approval Level (PAL), each year between 2017 and 2022.
3. How many legal aid providers presently have a duty lawyer rating (whether or not they
are on a current duty lawyer roster)
The total number of legal aid providers that have approval to act as duty lawyers is 970.
The total number of Public Defence Service (PDS) lawyers who have a Duty Lawyer approval is
125. PDS providers are employed by the Public Defence Service to provide legal aid services.
The total number of private legal aid providers with Duty Lawyer approval in New Zealand is 845.
Private legal aid provides are contracted to the Ministry of Justice to provide legal aid services.
4. How many providers are currently on a duty lawyer roster as of today’s date for the
country as a whole?
At courts where PDS operate, duty lawyer sessions are filled by a mix of PDS lawyers (overseen
by a Duty Lawyer Supervisor) and private providers. The total number of private duty lawyers on
the roster for PDS courts is 325.
Unlike private lawyers, specific PDS lawyers are not given a permanent rostered session.
The total number of duty lawyers on the roster for non-PDS courts is 225.
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).
In response to question 5, please refer to Appendix B which outlines our response to how many
duty lawyers are currently on a duty lawyer roster, as at 17 November 2022.
Please note the attached tables contain data drawn from a database that is subject to change, as
new data is continually recorded and/or recoded.
This response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the Ministry website at:
justice.govt.nz/about/official-information-act-requests/. If you require any further information,
please contact Ministry of Justice Media and Social Media Manager, Joe Locke, at
[email address].
If you would like to discuss this response or contact us again, please contact [email address].
You are also welcome to contact the Office of the Ombudsman if you wish to. They may be
contacted by phone on 0800 802 602 or by email to [email address]
Nāku noa, nā
Tracey Baguley
Group Manager, National Service Delivery
1982
Appendix A
Table 1: Number of Criminal Legal Aid Providers with more than 2 cases assigned by cluster for the Financial Year 2017/2018 ACT
Cluster
Number of Providers
PAL1
PAL2
PAL3
PAL4
Auckland Court Cluster
235
63
54
28
90
Christchurch Court Cluster
90
30
10
12
38
Dunedin Court Cluster
30
12
9
2
7
Gisborne Court Cluster
26
10
6
1
9
Hamilton Court Cluster
59
19
20
6
14
Invercargil Court Cluster
20
6
8
3
3
INFORMATION
Napier / Hastings Court Cluster
21
3
3
2
13
Nelson / Blenheim Court Cluster
26
8
8
1
9
New Plymouth Court Cluster
18
3
3
5
7
Palmerston North Court Cluster
28
11
5
5
7
Rotorua Court Cluster
37
13
12
2
10
Tauranga Court Cluster
39
13
8
7
11
OFFICIAL
Wel ington Court Cluster
82
24
14
16
28
Whanganui Court Cluster
11
2
4
1
4
THE
Whangarei Court Cluster
40
16
6
3
15
UNDER
RELEASED
1982
Table 2: Number of Criminal Legal Aid Providers with more than 2 cases assigned by cluster for the Financial Year 2018/2019
Cluster
Number of Providers
PAL1
PAL2
PAL3
PAL4
ACT
Auckland Court Cluster
248
67
53
33
95
Christchurch Court Cluster
97
31
14
14
38
Dunedin Court Cluster
28
9
10
2
7
Gisborne Court Cluster
22
9
3
2
8
Hamilton Court Cluster
64
20
21
7
16
Invercargil Court Cluster
24
9
8
2
5
Napier / Hastings Court Cluster
22
5
3
2
12
Nelson / Blenheim Court Cluster
26
7
9
1
9
INFORMATION
New Plymouth Court Cluster
17
3
3
4
7
Palmerston North Court Cluster
26
10
5
3
8
Rotorua Court Cluster
40
14
11
3
12
Tauranga Court Cluster
43
15
9
7
12
Wel ington Court Cluster
86
21
14
22
29
Whanganui Court Cluster
12
3
4
1
4
OFFICIAL
Whangarei Court Cluster
45
16
8
3
18
THE
UNDER
RELEASED
1982
Table 3: Number of Criminal Legal Aid Providers with more than 2 cases assigned by cluster for the Financial Year 2019/2020
Cluster
Number of Providers
PAL1
PAL2
PAL3
PAL4
ACT
Auckland Court Cluster
268
77
55
37
99
Christchurch Court Cluster
101
31
18
12
40
Dunedin Court Cluster
25
8
8
2
7
Gisborne Court Cluster
19
6
3
2
8
Hamilton Court Cluster
67
21
19
10
17
Invercargil Court Cluster
23
7
7
3
6
Napier / Hastings Court Cluster
24
7
4
2
11
Nelson / Blenheim Court Cluster
25
5
10
1
9
INFORMATION
New Plymouth Court Cluster
16
2
2
5
7
Palmerston North Court Cluster
25
10
5
2
8
Rotorua Court Cluster
45
15
11
4
15
Tauranga Court Cluster
44
16
9
6
13
Wel ington Court Cluster
95
25
18
22
30
Whanganui Court Cluster
14
5
4
1
4
OFFICIAL
Whangarei Court Cluster
44
18
6
4
16
THE
UNDER
RELEASED
1982
Table 4: Number of Criminal Legal Aid Providers with more than 2 cases assigned by cluster for the Financial Year 2020/2021
Cluster
Number of Providers
PAL1
PAL2
PAL3
PAL4
ACT
Auckland Court Cluster
288
87
63
44
94
Christchurch Court Cluster
103
32
21
12
38
Dunedin Court Cluster
26
9
7
2
8
Gisborne Court Cluster
20
6
4
2
8
Hamilton Court Cluster
73
21
22
11
19
Invercargil Court Cluster
23
6
8
2
7
Napier / Hastings Court Cluster
25
7
4
2
12
Nelson / Blenheim Court Cluster
25
6
9
2
8
INFORMATION
New Plymouth Court Cluster
14
3
2
2
7
Palmerston North Court Cluster
28
9
7
3
9
Rotorua Court Cluster
45
18
9
6
12
Tauranga Court Cluster
44
17
8
6
13
Wel ington Court Cluster
98
31
20
19
28
Whanganui Court Cluster
16
6
5
1
4
OFFICIAL
Whangarei Court Cluster
47
22
8
3
14
THE
UNDER
RELEASED
1982
Table 5: Number of Criminal Legal Aid Providers with more than 2 cases assigned by cluster for the Financial Year 2021/2022
Cluster
Number of Providers
PAL1
PAL2
PAL3
PAL4
ACT
Auckland Court Cluster
290
92
68
43
87
Christchurch Court Cluster
106
33
23
11
39
Dunedin Court Cluster
26
10
8
2
6
Gisborne Court Cluster
21
6
4
3
8
Hamilton Court Cluster
74
21
23
11
19
Invercargil Court Cluster
21
6
6
4
5
Napier / Hastings Court Cluster
27
6
7
3
11
Nelson / Blenheim Court Cluster
23
5
9
1
8
INFORMATION
New Plymouth Court Cluster
16
5
2
2
7
Palmerston North Court Cluster
28
7
8
3
10
Rotorua Court Cluster
42
17
8
6
11
Tauranga Court Cluster
46
15
10
7
14
Wel ington Court Cluster
95
27
23
19
26
Whanganui Court Cluster
16
6
4
1
5
OFFICIAL
Whangarei Court Cluster
50
22
10
5
13
THE
UNDER
Appendix B:
RELEASED
1982
Table 1: Number of Public Defence lawyers rostered for PDS courts
Court
PDS Lawyers
ACT
Auckland
41
Christchurch
42
Dunedin
11
Hamilton
34
Hastings
12
Hutt Valley
16
Manukau
49
Napier
6
INFORMATION
North Shore
19
Papakura
10
Porirua
14
Pukekohe
7
Tauranga
29
Waitakere
24
OFFICIAL
Wel ington
20
Grand Total
334
THE
UNDER
Table 2: Number of non-Public Defence Service duty lawyers for non PDS operated courts
RELEASED
1982
Court
Non PDS Duty Lawyers
Kaikohe
9
Kaitaia
6
ACT
Whangarei
16
Dargavil e
7
Dannevirke
3
Waipukurau
4
Gisborne
13
Ruatoria
9
Wairoa
8
INFORMATION
Huntly
11
Thames
6
Morrinsville
5
Taumarunui
4
Te Kuiti
5
Te Awamutu
8
OFFICIAL
Rotorua
17
Tokoroa
5
THE
Taupo
6
Whakatane
13
Opotiki
6
Masterton
10
UNDER
Levin
8
Palmerston North
11
Whanganui
11
Hawera
6
RELEASED
1982
Court
Non PDS Duty Lawyers
New Plymouth
5
Nelson
13
ACT
Westport
4
Blenheim
7
Kaikoura
3
Greymouth
11
Ashburton
8
Timaru
5
Oamaru
4
INFORMATION
Queenstown
5
Alexandra
5
Invercargil
9
Gore
7
Note:
OFFICIAL
• The total number of duty lawyers wil be greater than in question 3 as some lawyers work in multiple courts.
• Al data is as at 17 November 2022.
THE
UNDER
RELEASED
