Power Simon: Legal Services Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Power Simon: Legal Services Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7386] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Legal Services Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the Justice and Electoral Committee for its careful consideration of the bill. This bill was tabled before Parliament rose prior to the last general election and was originally put before the House by I believe the Hon Annette King but I stand to be corrected about that. We are progressing this legislation on a more fast-track timetable thereby reflecting this Government’s view of the bill’s importance. 
The bill makes another important contribution to the recognition of the rights of victims. It will change the way the legal aid scheme operates for victims of crime who apply for legal aid in respect of coronial inquests and Parole Board hearings. The bill also makes some adjustments of a procedural nature that will ensure that the legal aid system is more responsive— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: There is a lot of noise in the House. If people are going to have conversations can they please go outside and give the Minister on his feet the opportunity to be heard. 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: The bill also makes some adjustments of a procedural nature that will ensure that the legal aid system is more responsive in the future where the interests of justice require it to be so. Two unfortunate incidents highlighted a lack of flexibility in the repayment provisions of the Legal Services Act 2000 leading to an adverse impact on victims seeking legal aid for coronial inquests and Parole Board hearings. This bill proposes removing financial eligibility testing and repayment conditions for victims of crime who wish to attend coronial inquests or said Parole Board hearings. This bill also improves administrative practice by enabling the Legal Services Agency to decide not to recover legal aid debt at any time during the process. This will provide certainty for applicants with circumstances justifying a write-off as the agency will be able to let them know as early as possible that they will not be required to make repayments. The bill also introduces a regulation-making power so that the Governor-General can by Order in Council exempt particular classes of persons or proceedings from the financial eligibility tests and repayment conditions. A regulation-making power will enable a swift response to future situations where exemptions may be desired. 
The overall impact here as I understand was emphasised by the Hon Annette King when this bill was first brought to the House sometime before the last election is to remove the possibility of victims of crime being placed under additional stress. After promising some urgent action following the Kuchenbecker incident this bill made it to the Order Paper— 
Hon Annette King 
: It was quite complex actually. 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: It is quite complex. This bill made it to the Order Paper but was not introduced until August. However this Government as I said is pleased to advance the legislation. I hope that the original sponsor of the bill will ensure that the Opposition benches also continue to sponsor and support it. 
The Justice and Electoral Committee received six written submissions on the bill and heard from two of these submitters. The submitters were broadly in favour of the changes proposed in the bill although most argued that more could be done to support the needs of victims either through the legal aid system or through the justice system. I agree with the committee. However these changes are best considered in a broader context. I can tell the House that although I have not received Dame Margaret Bazley’s final review of the legal aid system this bill with its focus on making things easier for those people who need access to justice is consistent with where the legal aid system needs to move. This bill provides a focused amendment to a specific problem in the Legal Services Act and builds in some flexibility to more efficiently remedy any similar problems in the future 
The committee recommended some changes to the bill during the course of its deliberations. New clause 4A has been inserted which by inserting new subsection (1A) to section 7 clarifies that section 7(1)(e)(v) of the principal Act includes coronial inquests for the purposes of Part 3 of the Coroners Act 2006 and hearings of the New Zealand Parole Board to make it consistent with previous decisions of the Legal Aid Review Panel and the High Court. In turn this requires consequential amendments to clauses 5 and 6 of the bill as introduced. There are also a number of minor and technical changes to certain clauses. 
I want to acknowledge the original intent of the author of the original bill the Hon Annette King. I want to thank the Justice and Electoral Committee for its consideration of the bill. I want to thank all those members of the New Zealand public who made a contribution to this bill and I am pleased that this Government is able to advance the provisions of this bill in a straightforward and uncomplicated way. This bill makes an important change to the Legal Services Act as it applies to victims of crime. It will provide the Government with the flexibility to quickly respond to other situations that may appear unfair in the future. I commend this bill to the House.