The Ministry of Justice is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the current Legal Aid Provider Auditing and Monitoring Policy and the Legal Aid Provider Terms of Reference.

These describe the ministry's process of auditing legal aid lawyers in accordance with the Legal Services Act 2011 and are available on the ministry's website.

The ministry says audits are designed to ensure a high quality of service to customers.

It says the proposed changes will add additional risk assessment criteria to the provider selection process to highlight above average billing practices, and to identify providers whose legal aid applications, or amendment to grant applications, are often rejected.

The ministry says these will be in addition to the current criteria for audit selection.

The external consultation period will run until 1 May 2018.