Duty lawyers

This section has resources for duty lawyers. It includes information about the operation of the duty lawyer service and the responsibilities of duty lawyers.

Management of the duty lawyer rosters

The duty lawyer roster is managed either by:

the Rotorua legal aid office (for non Public Defence Service courts)
the Initial Criminal Legal Service unit (ICLS) which is based at the Manukau PDS office

Having an approval as a duty lawyer does not guarantee a place on the duty lawyer roster. To view the selection criteria, you can download the section criteria.

Duty lawyer selection criteria [PDF, 49 KB]

Admission to duty lawyer rosters

Lawyers seeking admission to a court with no PDS presence must apply to legal aid.

Email: dutylawyer@justice.govt.nz

Lawyers seeking admission to a court with the PDS must register their interest with the ICLS. The ICLS will provide information on the current roster vacancy situation. Ongoing admissions to rosters at courts with a PDS are controlled by the roster admission policy [PDF, 667 KB]

Email: duty.lawyer@justice.govt.nz

Operational policy

The duty lawyer operational policy outlines:

responsibilities, including completing legal aid applications
attendance requirements and arranging replacements
payment requirements (rates and disbursements)
supervision of the service and the role of the PDS
specific arrangements in place at courts with PDS

Operational policy [PDF, 549 KB]

The deputy register or duty lawyer supervisor will certify that the tax invoice - attendance form is correct before it’s emailed to the legal aid office. This form is in the above Operational policy document.