Apply for a review

How much does it cost?

There’s no fee to apply to the Legal Aid Tribunal.

How to apply

If you want to apply to the tribunal, you must do so within 20 working days of the Commissioner’s review decision.  

In exceptional circumstances, you can ask the tribunal to give you an extension when you apply for a review. There’s a space in the application form for you to explain why the tribunal should consider your application even if it’s late. You must file your late application no later than 3 months after the date of the Commissioner’s review decision.

What you need to send us

To apply to the tribunal, fill in the Application for Legal Aid Tribunal review form and send it to us. Make sure you include copies of documents to support your application, including a copy of the Commissioner’s review decision. All documents in your application must be in English and in PDF format.

You can’t send the tribunal any information that was not given to the Commissioner at the time they made their original decision.

Application for Legal Aid Tribunal review [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Postal address:
Legal Aid Tribunal
Tribunals Unit 
DX SX 11159
Wellington

Email: tribunals@justice.govt.nz

Present your case

You can present your own case or have a lawyer, or advocate, present it for you.

Appoint an advocate to represent you

You can appoint an advocate to act for you. They don’t need to be a lawyer – any person can be your advocate provided they have your written authority to do so.

The tribunal will communicate directly with your advocate.

Both you and your advocate need to sign this form:

Authority to Act [PDF, 179 KB]

If you hire a lawyer, you may be able to get legal aid to help with legal costs. A lawyer, your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Community Law Centre can tell you more about this.

Your responsibilities as an applicant

During the review, you must let the tribunal know in writing if there are any changes to:

  • your representative 
  • your postal address
  • any of your other contact details
  • your circumstances that would affect your eligibility for legal aid.

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