New centre focus on giving law back to the people

Monday 26 March 2007

New centre focuses on giving law back to the people

A legal system that works more for the public and less for the legal profession could be a reality for New Zealand.

Philanthropists Grant and Marilyn Nelson, as trustees of the Gama Foundation, have donated $1m to the University of Otago to establish the country’s first research centre focusing on improving the legal system.

The centre will carry out and disseminate research on creating a more accessible, affordable and efficient legal system. It will also investigate how the courts can better ascertain the truth and arrive at a fair and just outcome.

Mr Nelson, who is blind, says the idea of setting up the Legal Issues Centre first arose during a five-year legal battle to get a company to pay for $900,000 damage done to a building they had leased from The Gama Foundation.

“While we eventually won the case after putting in a lot of hard work, we came to the conclusion that the way the legal system and many lawyers operated was very unsatisfactory,” says Mr Nelson.

Their views were confirmed by an address given by High Court Judge, Justice John Hansen at the University of Otago in September last year, he says.

In his F.W. Guest Memorial Lecture, Justice Hansen said he believed New Zealand needed a “radical rethink as to how we resolve disputes. The law is no longer a profession – it is a business”.

“After considering Justice Hansen’s comments and reading news media reports about how litigation had ruined the finances, health and lives of some people, we decided that the establishment of a Legal Issues Centre would be very worthwhile.

“We hope that the research findings will help influence changes to the legal system and that these changes will help bring about a legal system which serves the best interests of citizens, rather than serving the best interests of lawyers and the law.”

The Nelson’s $1m donation is being made as part of the University’s Leading Thinkers initiative and will be matched under the Government’s Partnerships for Excellence scheme, lifting the total to $2m.

Otago Faculty of Law Dean Professor Mark Henaghan says the new Centre, to be directed by a senior academic, will act as a “critic and conscience” of the legal profession and system.

“The danger is that the law community can become clubbish and more interested in protecting its own interests than in preventing lawyers from working the system for their own ends.

“Recent criminal trials have prompted calls for a critical assessment of the adversary system. This will be part of the work the Legal Issues Centre engages in,” says Professor Henaghan.

New Zealand is a small country where it should be possible to have a legal system that serves all members of the public on a fair and just basis, he says.

Under the Gama Foundation’s endowment, the Director of the Centre will be appointed to a newly-established Chair in Legal Issues. After an international search, the successful candidate will be appointed at an Associate Professorial or Professorial level and undertake teaching as well as research.

Key activities for the Centre will include preparing submissions to the Minister of Justice and the Law Commission on how changes to legislation and legal processes can result in a justice system which better serves the interests of the public.

The Centre, where appropriate, will also make submissions to select committees on proposed legislation.

Vice-Chancellor Professor David Skegg says that the establishment of the new Chair and Centre is a very welcome initiative for the University.

“The University of Otago has New Zealand’s first law school, with an outstanding reputation for research. The University is also committed to contributing to the national good. Through the exceptional generosity of Mr and Mrs Nelson, our Law Faculty can help to reorient the legal system for the benefit of ordinary citizens.”

ENDS

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