Source: New Zealand Ministry of Justice
Headline: How criminal legal aid cases are assigned to lawyers
The Legal Services Commissioner is responsible for assigning legal aid cases to approved lawyers. This responsibility is delegated to Legal Aid Services staff, who make assignment decisions in line with the Commissioner’s policies and guidance. The Commissioner’s primary responsibility is to ensure legally aided people can access representation when they need it and without undue delay.
Cases are assigned to individual lawyers, not law firms. Where several approved legal aid lawyers work at the same firm, each can receive assignments, so the number of approved lawyers at a firm can affect the total number of cases received by that firm.
Rotational assignments
For most lower-level criminal cases, lawyers are assigned cases through an electronic rotational allocation system. Approved lawyers choose the area and courts where they want to receive cases and are placed on an assignment list. The system identifies the next appropriate lawyer on the list when a case is ready to be assigned.
The aim is to distribute lower-level cases fairly between approved lawyers. This does not mean every lawyer will receive the same number of cases, as this will depend on several factors such as their availability, capacity, and the types of cases and courts where they choose to receive assignments from.
The assignment process is different for more serious criminal cases, where clients can choose an appropriately approved legal aid lawyer. If they do not choose one, the case can be assigned through the rotation system.
Non-rotational assignments
Rotation is one part of the criminal legal aid assignment policy. Legal Aid Services policies set out clear exceptions where cases can and should be assigned outside of rotation. These recognise that the circumstances of the case or the person receiving legal aid can affect which lawyer should be assigned. For example:
- Urgent cases: Legal Aid Services may need to work through the assignment list until they find an approved lawyer who can take the case at short notice.
- An existing lawyer: where a person already has a lawyer representing them on another active case, it may be more efficient to assign the new case to that same lawyer.
- Police Detention Legal Assistance: where a lawyer has already provided advice when the person was detained by Police, the case may be assigned to that lawyer if the policy requirements are met.
- Other client or case circumstances: for example, where a client has complex mental health needs and a long-standing relationship of trust with a lawyer who has previously represented them, it may be more efficient and in the client’s interests for that lawyer to continue representing them.
These exceptions are part of the legal aid assignment process. Staff guidance sets out when exceptions can be used. The assignment policy and list of exceptions to rotation are also set out in the publicly available Grants handbook for legal aid lawyers.
Non-rotational assignments also affect how many cases a lawyer will receive through rotation. This means a lawyer who receives cases outside of rotation will generally receive fewer cases through the rotational system as a result.
King’s Counsel’s comments on non-rotational assignments
In a recent report prepared for the Ministry, a King’s Counsel concluded that the processes supporting non-rotational assignments were not sufficiently formalised or consistently applied and recommended that they be strengthened.
The Legal Services Commissioner already has established and sound policies and processes governing assignments, including when cases can be assigned outside rotation and is satisfied that the established assignment processes are being consistently applied.
The Commissioner recognises the importance of making sure these processes are clear, transparent and consistently understood. The Commissioner has agreed to provide clearer information to legal aid lawyers about how non-rotational assignments work and will continue to make sure the relevant policies and guidance are well understood and consistently applied by Legal Aid Services staff. That will include strengthening our quality assurance processes for non-rotational assignments.
The Commissioner’s primary responsibility remains ensuring eligible people can access representation when they need it and without undue delay. Any improvements need to support that responsibility and avoid unnecessary delays, particularly where representation is needed urgently.
This page was last updated: 30th October 2026
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/10/30/how-criminal-legal-aid-cases-are-assigned-to-lawyers/