These regulations are the Legal Services Regulations 2011.

These regulations come into force on 1 July 2011.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

For the purposes of Schedules 1AA and 2, a repayment is determined on the date that the repayment payable by an aided person is determined in accordance with section 21 of the Act.

Any term that is defined in the Act and used, but not defined, in these regulations has the same meaning as in the Act.

The transitional, savings, and related provisions set out in Schedule 1AA have effect according to their terms.

These regulations apply to applications for legal aid made on or after 1 July 2011.

Nothing in subclause (1) limits or affects the application of section 132 of the Act (which relates to legal aid granted, applications for legal aid made, and repayment obligations for grants of legal aid made under the Legal Services Act 2000).

The maximum levels of income for the purposes of determining an applicant’s eligibility for legal aid in respect of a civil matter are,—

If a single applicant has more than 5 dependent children, or an applicant has a spouse or partner and more than 4 dependent children, the maximum level of income per year for that applicant is calculated by adding $8,192 for each additional child to the amount specified in subclause (1)(f)(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), as relevant.

The maximum level of disposable capital for the purposes of determining an applicant’s eligibility for legal aid in respect of a civil matter is $3,500.

If the applicant has a spouse or partner, or 1 or more dependent children, the maximum level of disposable capital for that applicant is calculated by adding an allowance of $1,500 to the amount specified in subclause (1).

The allowance for the purpose of clause 3(1)(a) of Schedule 1 of the Act is $80,000.

This regulation applies for the purposes of valuing—

The value of the assets is their fair market value at the date of the application for legal aid.

Any interest in a reversion or remainder (whether legal or equitable) in any property must be computed in a manner that is both fair and reasonable.

Any interest in any trust or other fund (whether the applicant’s interest is held solely, jointly, or in common, and whether it is vested or contingent), or any benefit that the applicant might receive in connection with any trust (for example, a discretionary trust), must be assessed with regard to—

For the purposes of subclause (4), the Commissioner may treat all or part of the assets and income of a trust as assets and income of the applicant regardless of the interest of any other person in the trust.

If the applicant, or a person whose resources are to be treated as the applicant’s resources, is under a contingent liability under an enactment or instrument to pay a sum, then the Commissioner must make an allowance for any amount that is reasonably likely to become payable within 6 months of the date of the application for legal aid.

If, in the opinion of the Commissioner, the applicant, or a person whose resources are to be treated as the applicant’s resources, stands in relation to a company in a position analogous to that of sole owner or partner in the business of that company, the Commissioner may, instead of ascertaining the value of the person’s shares in the company, treat the person as if he or she were the sole owner or partner, and compute the amount of his or her capital in respect of that asset accordingly.

This regulation applies to any resources that an applicant has disposed of (whether directly or indirectly) in order to become eligible for legal aid, or to reduce or avoid repayments due to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner may include in the applicant’s resources the resources referred to in subclause (1) when calculating the applicant’s income, disposable capital, or capital for the purposes of determining the applicant’s eligibility for legal aid or the repayment payable by the applicant.

The resources referred to in subclause (1) include—

For the purposes of sections 20 and 21 of the Act, the prescribed repayment amount is the total of—

The maximum amount payable based on capital is the amount set out in the first column of the table in Schedule 1 that corresponds to the capital thresholds—

If the applicant’s capital exceeds the capital thresholds, the maximum amount payable based on capital is the total of—

The maximum amount payable based on income is the amount set out in the first column of the relevant table in Schedule 2 that corresponds to the income thresholds—

If the applicant’s income exceeds the income thresholds, the maximum amount payable based on income is the total of—

The following expenses are specified for the purposes of section 33(d) of the Act:

For the purposes of section 23(4) of the Act, the maximum grant to be specified for every grant of legal aid in respect of victims’ claims proceedings is the following number of hours of legal services from a provider at the applicable hourly rate set by the Commissioner:

In this regulation, Tribunal means a tribunal within the meaning of section 4 of the Prisoners and Victims’ Claims Act 2005.

An application for legal aid in respect of a civil matter for a person aged under 16 must be made by—

An application for legal aid in respect of a civil matter for a person who, by reason of mental or physical infirmity, is incapable of completing an application for legal aid may be made on behalf of the person by any responsible person (including an officer of Public Trust) with sufficient knowledge of the applicant’s affairs.

An application for legal aid by a person who is not resident in New Zealand (a non-resident) may be made by the applicant’s lawyer or other person authorised by the applicant.

Despite subclause (1), the statement of financial means required by section 14(1)(b) of the Act to be included in the application must be completed by the non-resident personally (unless regulation 16 or 17 applies).

A person signing an application on behalf of a non-resident applicant must state in the application that the applicant has not signed it personally because he or she is not in New Zealand.

A claim for payment for legal aid services must be made for each day that the services are provided, unless the services are subject to a fixed fee arrangement, in which case the claim must be made for services that are completed in accordance with the fixed fee arrangement.

For the purposes of section 98 of the Act, the time frame within which a claim for payment for legal aid services must be made to the Secretary for Justice is the period—

Despite subclause (2), if the Secretary requires in writing that a claim for payment for legal aid services be made, that claim must be made within 90 days of the date of that requirement.

A claim for payment is deemed to have been made when it is received by the Secretary for Justice.

A report of the Waitangi Tribunal that must be supplied to the Commissioner under section 49 of the Act must contain the following information:

In subclause (1)(b)(ii), specified period means a period specified by the Commissioner by reference to time, events, or both.