The number of duty solicitors working in the Dunedin District
Court will be halved when Dunedin's Public Defence Service
(PDS) starts operating next month, as a time of uncertainty
continues for Dunedin's legal aid lawyers.
The introduction of the service will mean big changes for
Dunedin's criminal bar, with many lawyers, including some
long-serving senior lawyers who previously did duty solicitor
and criminal legal aid work, finding themselves at best
entering another unsettled period and at worst looking for
other work.
The Dunedin PDS will begin with three lawyers, and, as well
as taking a third of the places on a new, much smaller, duty
solicitor roster, will also take half of the court's criminal
legal aid cases, leaving half as many cases for private
defence lawyers.
For context, in the year to June 30 last year, 66 lawyers
worked on 2134 criminal legal aid cases that went through
Dunedin's courts.
The Dunedin PDS will start in early November with four staff
- senior Dunedin defence lawyer Campbell Savage will be the
deputy public defender, assisted by two lawyers and an
administrator.
As it builds up to its full capacity - about 1000 cases a
year - the service expects to employ 10 lawyers in Dunedin
eventually, but a spokeswoman said that would be reviewed if
caseloads changed.
Criminal legal aid cases have been allocated on a rotational
basis since November last year and many lawyers have already
had the chance to consider whether remaining in legal aid
work is viable, but changes to the duty solicitor service,
which come in when the PDS starts, are a fresh blow.
Where 45 lawyers at present provide duty solicitor services
in Dunedin, a new fortnightly roster has places for only 22
private duty solicitors and the PDS lawyers, who will take
33% of the duty solicitor work.
Private lawyers have had to apply for the 22 places on the
roster, and so far 20 have been appointed by a project team
including members of the PDS, who were advised by a panel
that included a local senior lawyer recommended by the New
Zealand Law Society, a court management representative and
the legal aid regional manager. The input of police
prosecutions and the judiciary was also sought.
Law Society Otago branch president Debbie Ericsson said the
impact of the changes was already being felt by members of
Dunedin's criminal bar who worked in criminal legal aid.
That some senior lawyers who had worked for years as duty
solicitors in Dunedin had not been appointed on the new
roster had been something of a shock, while others were
waiting to see how the new system would impact on their
practices before considering their futures, she said.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the duty solicitor
appointments were aimed at getting the best mix of competent,
reliable lawyers, and the roster would be structured in daily
teams of lawyers with a range of skills and experiences.
The duty solicitor roster will be managed and overseen by the
PDS.
People on legal aid only get to choose their lawyer if they
are charged with a more serious crime.
Otago University criminal law professor Prof Kevin Dawkins
said while the introduction of the PDS would see big changes
in Dunedin, it also offered opportunities. It was providing
an alternative career path for defence lawyers, and in other
towns young lawyers who had worked for the Crown had switched
to the PDS to round out their experience.
The introduction of the PDS in Dunedin would be difficult
time for a certain segment of the legal profession, but
change happened and the profession had to adjust, he said.
In two or three years, things would be much more settled.
The Justice Ministry spokeswoman said the changes were part
of ongoing reforms to contain growth in legal aid spending
and make it more sustainable.
Independent evaluations of the PDS have found where it
operates it is cheaper than the equivalent private provision
of legal services; the quality of legal services are
maintained or improved; there are two thirds fewer jury
trials; and there is no difference in outcome for clients in
terms of the overall conviction rate.
And for the serious cases, the conviction rate for PDS cases
is significantly lower than that for privately provided
cases.
Dunedin Public Defence
Service
• Starts next month
• Begins with three lawyers
• Third of places on duty solicitor roster
• Half criminal legal aid cases
• Eventually may employ about 10 lawyers
• Eventually about criminal 1000 cases a year
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.