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The
following links show two pages of the Legal Services Agency Manual
CR5
www.lsa.govt.nz/ListedProvider/pdfs/SummaryCriminal.pdf
and
CR12 www.lsa.govt.nz/ListedProvider/pdfs/IndictableCriminal.pdf
The Agency is called upon to pay for restorative justice interventions whether in the summary or the indictable jurisdictions.
The
commentary indicates that the conference report qualifies as a specialist report
and a disbursement up to the maximum determined by regional managers for each
location may be paid without prior approval.
Section
5.3 of the manual provides for “Disbursements policy for criminal, family
and civil legal aid.” Relevant
pages can be found at www.lsa.govt.nz/ListedProvider/disbursements/DisbursementsMain.htm.
The second shows disbursements. It
would appear that the standard rate for “other specialist reports (e.g.
valuations, medical)” is a cost to a maximum of $750.00 inclusive of GST.
However,
Jim Riddell, Northern Regional Manger, Legal Services Agency, has set a maximum
of $350.00 GST inclusive for a restorative process including report to the
court. This is payable as a
disbursement on the lawyer’s legal aid account.
Nevertheless,
experience in Auckland over the past 7 years indicates reliably that a
restorative justice conference process, whether with one or two facilitators
involved in preparing for and holding a restorative justice conference, and
reporting to the court on such a restorative justice process, is taking more or
less 12 hours.
RJ
groups are required to provide estimate to lawyers if they anticipate a fee of
more than $350.00. What follows may
assist in preparing such an estimate.
1)
Receipt of referral, liaison with referring person or agency, opening
file and allocating case to conference facilitator; 1 hour @ $60.00
2)
Pre-conference preparation of conference with participants including
preliminary telephone contact and then personal contact.
A personal visit is undertaken with each person to attend the conference
including victim, offender, members of whanau of each, police, probation officer
and community or professional support people; 4 hours @ $60.00
plus travel time
3)
Follow-up telephone contact with participants, identifying suitable
conference venues, negotiating place for conference with participants
(victim’s choice) and arranging conference venue; 1 hour @ $60.00
4)
Holding restorative justice conference; 3 hours @ $60.00
5)
Reporting to the court on restorative justice conference; 2 hours @
$60.00
6)
Attending court on date of sentence and reporting back to victim and
victim’s whanau on court outcome; 1 hour @ $60.00
Total:
$720.00 GST inclusive.
Please
note restorative justice provider groups invoice the legal aid lawyer, who
attaches this invoice to his legal aid invoice as a disbursement.
The lawyer pays the provider group invoice.
6 September 2002