The 2026/2027 Practising Certificate renewals are open. Please renew by 30 June 2026.
Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite has written to the legal profession to outline what will happen as part of the Accessible and Affordable Justice programme. This programme will be led by the Ministry of Justice and responds to the outcome of the 2025 Triennial Review of the Legal Aid scheme.
The Accessible and Affordable Justice programme will involve a small team working directly with the Judiciary, the legal profession and sector agencies on a range of high impact changes to produce timeliness gains and efficiencies. The programme will consider options including changes to jury trial settings, changes that reduce demand for legal aid, and changes that reduce the effects of high volumes of case material and the complexity of evidential requirements.
The programme will also consider targeted changes to legal aid scheme settings. These settings influence overall demand on the scheme and influence how cases progress through the system.
The Secretary for Justice will appoint lawyers to be part of a small Practitioners Advisory Group. Comprised of experienced practitioners, the group will test proposals and options at an early stage. Officials will work with the Practitioners Advisory Group, as well as the wider legal profession, the Judiciary and sector agencies to progress options for change.
This work will progress at pace and the Ministry will provide advice to Ministers to enable them to make decisions for Budget 2027.
The Triennial Review highlighted that the scheme is under significant strain. Feedback from legal aid lawyers was that they were struggling to service their clients and respond to the administrative demands of the system. The legal profession also noted the scheme was struggling to retain existing lawyers and attract new ones.
Ministry analysis concluded that rising legal aid costs are largely being driven up by changing practices in the justice system. This includes significant increases in the number of defendants electing trial by jury and increasingly complex cases, as well as inefficiencies, churn and delays.
The Ministry has published a summary document of the feedback received: Legal Aid Review 2025 – summary of consultation feedback. [PDF, 415 KB] It also published a range of Cabinet material. [PDF, 1.1 MB]
More information about the Accessible and Affordable Justice programme is available on the Ministry of Justice’s website: https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/legal-aid-scheme-review/