Law office goes to the people

Mana (Auckland), 14 July 1977, Page 1

Law office goes to the people

The mystique and expense often associated with lawyers will soon be removed with the opening of New Zealand's first neighbourhood law office, in Grey Lynn, Auckland. The need for such a service has been clearly established for years. Maoris have long been the victims of irrelevant and outdated laws, and the feeling of indifference and middle-class prosperity . surrounding lawyers has ensured that Maoris have seldom had the legal advice and assistance they needed. New immigrants from the Pacific Islands have been similarly disadvantaged. Add to this the seeming aloofness of lawyers; their concentrations in particular business areas which has made them even more unapproachable; their concern for prestige and profit and therefore their exorbitant cost; a restrictive legal aid scheme and an inherently mono-cultural legal system. The result is a denial of equality injustice. In the United States, England and Australia, a number of schemes have been introduced to make lawyers part of the community, andthusmake their skills more accessible to people from all walks of life. In England, many community legal schemes have been set up since 1970. These began through Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, but there are now legal advice centres, neighbourhood advice centres and community law centres. In the United States, Neighbourhood Law Offices, staffed by storefront lawyers who have been the subject of a television series, have met the need for community legal services located among the people they are to serve.

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This scheme stresses the necessity for neighbourhood lawyers becoming known and trusted in their local community so that the disadvantaged will identify with them. Neighbourhood Law Office lawyers have spent a lot of time taking “civil rights” cases and have had some success in fighting cases against State and Federal Government. In Australia, the Aboriginal Legal Services have been an

outstanding success. Funded entirely by the Federal Government, the Service employs its own lawyers, provides legal aid for aboriginals in any area of concern, and has been particularly active in taking cases on aboriginal land rights.

Syd Jackson

There is little cha' ce of such a scheme being intioduced in New Zealand because of the hysteria generated among politicians that to do anything specifically for the benefit of Maoris and other Polynesians is to create a system of apartheid. The nonsense of this assertion is selfevident, but it will nevertheless prevent such a scheme ever being introduced in this country. The Neighbourhood Law Office is, therefore, considered the best way to introduce community law. Its setting-up is an acknowledgement that equal justice will be guaranteed only when all citizens are provided with effective access to the institutions by which

justice is obtained. It is hoped that local people will feel the lawyer and community worker employed at the Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office will be on their side and be part of the community in which they work. The Office is being set up by the Law Society but there will be a Community Advisory Board so that local people will have a voice in the running of the office which will be concerned with preventive law and public education. So far, the Government has failed to provide funds for the office’s operation. The Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office will be filling a long overdue need. Please use it.