Parents Against Negative Intervention by CYFS - PANIC
PO Box 9078 Palmerston North


ATTENTION Chief Reporter/Newsroom

PRESS RELEASE 12 April 2002

Criminals get more legal aid than others

PANIC, an organisation supporting families struggling to get justice in the family court says that legal aid is more readily available to criminals than to people who have never been charged with a crime.

John Tonson, Director of PANIC, Parents against negative intervention by CYFS (Child Youth & Family) says that parents who have had their children removed on questionable grounds often find that legal aid runs out before their case is heard in the Family Court.

In some cases more legal aid is denied because the government funded Legal Services Agency decides on the basis of information at hand that the parent(s)’ case has insufficient prospects of success. This is wrong and unjust because it prevents a full hearing of the issues in court says Mr Tonson.

This inequality of justice has been highlighted by the recent media publicity of the family who soaked up a huge bill of $1.14 million for a criminal court hearing when it was known that the accused prospects for success were also insufficient.

If that was the price of ensuring justice was done according to Justice Minister Phil Goff why are parents in the Family Court not being afforded the same standard of justice? asks Mr Tonson.

In contrast parents unjustly deprived of their children by CYFS and poorly represented by lawyers may be limited to only a few thousand dollars of legal aid and if greater than that still much less than the case requires.

A fully informed debate by all concerned groups on the present legal aid regulations is needed to bring about changes to make the distribution of legal aid more just, says Mr Tonson. Children’s lives are at stake!

Even more important is a top level inquiry into the operations of the Child Youth and Family Service which is causing a great deal of legal action in the Family Court with the resulting huge yearly cost of legal aid much of which should have never been needed in the first place.


John Tonson PANIC Director

For more interview or discussion on points raised please contact John Tonson
email: jktonson@inspire.net.nz