Legal aid quality criticised

Press, 28 October 1982, Page 4

Legal aid quality criticised

PA Wellington The quality of legal aid in courts is suffering and people are being poorly represented, Labour's deputy leader, Mr Lange, has told Parliament. Remuneration for lawyers giving legal aid was “grotesquely bad,” said Mr Lange, during the debate on the Justice estimates. “If you are going to pay a lawyer (acting) on a criminal charge about half the rate of a television serviceman you are likely to get the results you now get in the court," he said. Mr Lange criticised “some of the efforts being tendered in support of the hapless defendants.

i “We are having grotesque things happening in court. . . i it has to change.” 1 He urged the Government to stop calling for’ reports, ' and follow the example of I Victoria which had funded a comprehensive package of > legal-aid measures. The Minister of Justice, Mr Mclay, said he did not i accept the criticisms but acknowledged that there were “some inadequacies.” In particular, he acknowledges that the level of legalaid fees was inadquate, Mr McLay told the House. He said he had previously indicated that at an appropriate time the level of fees would be reviewed. But it was not appropriate during a price freeze.