According to a June 10 news release, the 2025 performance report examined the “efficiency and effectiveness of legal aid service delivery” by the New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission (NBLASC).
Overall, Auditor General Paul Martin found that “while the [NBLASC] is doing a commendable job in many areas, there are opportunities for improvement.”
Martin’s report notes the NBLASC was created in 2005 and carried on the work of Legal Aid New Brunswick in providing “certain criminal and family legal aid services” to those with low income.
“Legal aid plays a vital role in ensuring low-income individuals are provided fair and equitable access to justice,” states Martin’s report, noting that NBLASC provided full representation on 5,727 criminal and family law cases during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
In terms of positives, Martin found NBLASC to have “established eligibility criteria that are clearly communicated and consistently applied … in a timely manner.”
Martin found it to have succeeded in coming to speedy decisions around eligibility, noting that 84 per cent were either granted or denied legal aid within a week, and that 77 per cent of those approved were assigned a lawyer within a week.
“[H]owever, improvements can be made in ensuring the financial eligibility criteria are aligned with NBLASC’s overall mandate to serve low-income individuals, and legal aid services are provided with due regard to economy,” states Martin.
For one, he noted NBLASC has not gone over its financial eligibility criteria since 2017 — and thus recommended it “establish and implement a review process for the financial eligibility grid to ensure it’s fulfilling its mandate.”
Martin also found there was inconsistent application of NBLASC’s appeals process for those deemed ineligible to receive service.
“Financial ineligibility is the most common reason for denying an application, however, there is no policy or legislation that defines the financial appeals process,” states Martin. “In addition, NBLASC has not developed a comprehensive appeals process policy and procedures document that would outline various factors to consider when an appeal is filed.”
Martin found the NBLASC’s executive director “provided verbal delegation of authority” to employees to adopt an informal financial appeal process, where “an applicant with income of up to 10 per cent more than the top of Tier 3 may be eligible for legal aid services.”
(Tier 3 appears to be the highest level of income that still falls under the umbrella of being eligible for service.)
However, Martin determined this was not consistently applied — and also took issue with the fact the directive was delivered verbally, and not in writing.
First, Martin recommended the NBLASC comply with the Legal Aid Act in ensuring that “delegations” to employees are in writing, and that it formalize its appeals process “and provide training to ensure fair and equitable access to legal aid services.”
Martin also took aim at NBLASC’s “mixed model” of service personnel. Like many other legal aid bodies, it uses both staff lawyers and those from the private bar to deliver its services.
Martin found a “lack of financial analysis” in comparing the use of staff lawyers versus private, and found the NBLASC to have failed both to establish “expected costs per case” for either staff or private counsel and establish “maximum hours” private lawyers are to be paid for services.
Martin recommended the NBLASC do a better job analyzing and securing these areas of finance.
According to the audit report, the NBLASC agreed with all of Martin’s recommendations; it had already completed the recommendation on written directions, is in the process of evaluating the benefits of using staff counsel, and will work on implementing the other recommendations.
New Brunswick’s Department of Justice and Public Safety was asked for comment.
“The Department of Justice and Public Safety thanks the Auditor General for his report and valuable recommendations,” said a spokesperson in an email. “Legal Aid New Brunswick has agreed with all recommendations and is committed to implementing them.”
A request for comment from the NBLASC was not answered by press time.
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