From 1 May 2019 the Ministry of Justice has begun implementation of a new duty lawyer invoice at all non-PDS court sites.

The ministry says the new invoice has been tested at PDS sites and is working well. It says it is more streamlined and will be faster for duty lawyers to complete.

It says changes which have been made include the location of invoices at a central place at each court. All invoices must be submitted by the court for payment, although some sites already have this in place.

Any travel claims for duty lawyers in line with the travel policy must be included on the duty lawyer invoice and not sent separately.

The ministry says Deputy Registrars will continue to sign invoices as is current practice.