Ministry of Justice

In 2025, the Government undertook a review of the legal aid system. The Ministry of Justice released a discussion document [PDF, 489 KB] and received a wide range of submissions from organisations representing the legal profession, law firms, individual lawyers, and members of the public. 

In June 2026 the Ministry 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]

In response to the outcome of the Triennial Legal Aid Review, Justice Minister Hon Paul Goldsmith, launched the Accessible and Affordable Justice programme at a Law Association of New Zealand meeting in Auckland on 12 June 2026. 

The legal aid scheme is under pressure, and balancing access to justice against responsible government spending proves an ongoing challenge. Legal aid spending has increased significantly in recent years and is expected to continue to do so. 

Legal aid providers are also experiencing increased workloads across the profession that have been exacerbated in regions with fewer providers. 

Pressures on the scheme reflect what is happening in the courts, such as the increasing volume of court cases, the cost for third party and specialist reports, and changes to legal aid eligibility and remuneration in recent years. 

The review covered the profile of legal aid and how it has changed over time, the sustainability of the legal aid scheme, eligibility and repayment settings, provider procurement and coverage, provider incentives and remuneration, and legal aid quality assurance. 

A discussion document informed the review. It outlined the scope and objectives for the review and set out the current settings for legal aid, the challenges facing the scheme, and proposals to address them. 

The Review identified that the legal aid scheme is under severe 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. The cost of legal aid is outstripping inflation and has risen from $192.5 million to $304.7 million in the last five years and is projected to increase further. 

In response to the review of the legal aid scheme, the Ministry of Justice is leading the Accessible and Affordable Justice programme.  

Analysis undertaken by the Ministry has identified that increases in the cost of legal are not driven solely by the number of cases, but also by how they work their way through the court system. Legal aid costs are largely being driven up by changing practices in the justice system – such as a significant increase in the number of defendants electing trial by jury and increasingly complex cases, as well as inefficiencies, churn and delays.  

These pressures cannot be addressed solely through changes to the legal aid scheme as many of the issues stem from how cases are progressed and resolved. It will take concerted action by everyone in the Justice sector to find meaningful solutions.  

The Ministry will be working with the legal profession, the Judiciary and Justice sector agencies on a range of high impact changes to produce timeliness gains and efficiencies that will flow through into savings in the justice system and the legal aid scheme.  

In working with the profession, the Ministry will establish a small Practitioners Advisory Group, appointed by the Secretary for Justice. The group will bring together experienced practitioners with a strong understanding of how the system operates in practice and will be used to test proposals and options at an early stage.  

The programme will look at a wide range of options, such as 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.