Legal lowdown newsletter#3

LEGAL LOWDOWN

NEWSLETTER #3 September 2013

DOG LAWS: WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES?

Dog Laws

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A look at the laws, by-laws & regulations concerning dog ownership and also the Animal Management Officers of the Auckland City Council.

Services

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A brief overview of recent and upcoming OCLC events and legal services, including our outreach and public events and seminars.

Charities

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Changes to registered charities finance reporting laws. We also look at quick and easy IRD number applications.

Forging Community Partnerships: LAW, STUDENTS & YOUTH RIGHTS LAW IN SCHOOLS PROGRAMME We strive to create positive partnerships with community organisations to assist us in achieving our objectives.

We are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with Equal Justice Project (EJP) to provide the Law in Schools programme.

The Law in Schools programme is an initiative that takes legal education into schools and alternative education facilities to increase youth understanding of their rights, responsibilities and obligations.

The programme is also beneficial to teachers, parents, tutors, caregivers, youth and social workers and people of influence to youth.

We are excited about this partnership and providing such a necessary service to our youth and community and look forward to seeing this programme flourish.

EQUAL JUSTICE PROJECT: The Equal Justice Project was founded in 2005 by

students Eesvan Krishnan and Peter Williams with the aim of promoting equal access to justice in Auckland.

For more information on Equal Justice Project, send them an email on: directors@equaljusticeproject.co.nz

The Equal Justice Project is a student run pro bono initiative empowering communities to seek equal access to justice through education, service, and advocacy. It is entirely run and led by students from the University of Auckland, Faculty of Law.

FREE LEGAL SERVICES

Volunteers have in the past worked with a range of practitioners, not-for-profit organisations, government departments, and the general public to increase access to the law. The Equal Justice Project aims to continue its mission of addressing issues of equality, redress and representation through three main projects: Pro Bono, Community and On Campus.

For more information on the Law In Schools Programme contact Wi Pere Mita: wipere.mita@otaralaw.org.nz or (09) 274 4966

We provide FREE Legal Services to the South Auckland Area (except Mangere).

Our services range from Legal Advice, Assistance and Information to Legal Education and Representation.

Check out PAGE 3 for more details on our upcoming events and services.

For more details please contact: Our office on (09) 274 4966 or See our website: www.otaracommunitylawcentre.com

LEGAL AID CHANGES: LEGAL SERVICES AMENDMENT ACT 2013 On 2 September 2013 the Government’s changes to Legal Aid services came into force.

Some of the important legal aid changes are: ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA In assessing applicant eligibility for civil and family legal aid, the Legal Services Commissioner will now consider both the cost of proceedings and the applicant’s ability to fund them without legal aid. For serious or special cases like domestic violence, only one of the above criteria will need to be met.

Also, in assessing the merits of a case, the Commissioner will have regard to personal protection issues, and the interests of the public in granting legal aid.

Legal Aid may be refused to those who are in arrears in repaying their aid debt for civil or family cases until they undertake to start repayments. The exception to this is where the interests of justice require a grant of aid or for domestic violence or similar cases.

Some parole proceedings will now be administered as criminal legal aid instead of civil legal aid.

USER COSTS & CHARGES Applicants will now be charged $50 for some family or civil grants of legal aid. Some proceedings are exempt from the charge, and whether the charge is payable will now appear on application forms of each applicable application. Applicants will only pay the charge if the legal aid application is approved (it is not an application fee).

INTEREST Interest at 8% per annum will now be payable on all outstanding finalised legal aid debt. There is a 6 month interest free period that applies once the debt is finalised at the end of the case.

The Commissioner may ‘write off’ any debt if enforcement of the debt will cause undue hardship to the debtor, if the costs of the enforcement is likely to exceed the amount claimed or if it will be just or equitable to have the debt written off.

Those whom have defaulted on repayments may have deduction notices placed on their income or bank account. This means that repayments will be automatically taken from their income or bank account.

For more information on the Legal Aid changes please contact your nearest legal aid office or call 0800 600 090

DOGS ARE A MAN’S BEST FRIEND: DOG LAWS & REGULATIONS

A dog owner is ultimately responsible for their dog’s actions.

Accordingly, there are many laws, by-laws and regulations in place to ensure that a safe environment is created for both dogs and our community.

Auckland City Council, Animal Management Officers (The Council) take enquiries 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. They deal with dog related matters which include complaints about wandering dogs, barking and fouling, and dog attacks.

The Council can do the following things when a complaint is received: Give advice & information Issue a warning Issue an infringement notice Classify a dog as a menace or dangerous Classify an owner as probationary or disqualified Revoke a Responsible Dog Owner License Revoke a permit for two dogs Issue a barking abatement notice Seize a dog – including removing it from a property Adopt a dog to a new family In serious cases, dog owners may receive a criminal conviction for their dog’s actions.

Section 57(2) of the Dog Control Act 1996 (‘the Act’) makes it an offence to be an owner of a dog that has attacked another person or animal. The owner is liable for a conviction and a sentence of up to a maximum of $3,000 and any other liability incurred as a result of the attack (usually medical costs).

However, a particularly difficult issue for owners to come to terms with is section 57(3) of the Act which makes it mandatory for the Court to order the destruction of the dog unless it is satisfied that the circumstances of the offending were exceptional.

To prevent dogs being destroyed, the owner will need to prove that the circumstances surrounding the attack were an exception. Owners may either file their own submissions or instruct a lawyer to file submissions on their behalf. The lawyer can also represent you in Court.

For more information contact Auckland City Council Animal Management: (09) 301 0101

SERVICE CLINICS Otara OCLC 120 Bairds Road Otara

Otahuhu We currently do not have an Outreach clinic in Otahuhu

Appointments available: Monday – Friday

Manukau Salvation Army 16B Bakerfield Place Manukau

Papakura Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau 4a Opaheke Road Papakura

Appointments available: Monday-Friday

Appointments available: Thursday

Pukekohe Heartland Services 2 King Street Pukekohe

Manurewa Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa

Flat Bush Hilltop Community Centre 30 Hilltop Road Flat Bush

Flat Bush Chapel Downs Primary School 170 Dawson Rd, Flat Bush

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Tuesday

Appointments available: Wednesday

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Friday

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Wednesday

OCLC SERVICES: RECENT UPCOMING EVENTS FREE LEGAL EDUCATION We deliver/ Co-ordinate Legal Education to community groups or organisations in our service area.

We provide education sessions on the following areas of law: Employment, Tenancy, Consumer, Human Rights, Youth Rights, Traffic, Immigration, NZ legal system, Maori Legal Issues, Privacy, Care of Children, WINZ entitlements and other topics.

For more information on any of our legal education services please contact our office (09) 274 4966

MĀORI LAND CLINICS Our Free Māori Land Advice & Education Clinics are designed to inform, educate and advise Māori Land owners, shareholders and trustees on various aspects of their Māori Land.

These clinics are run in partnership with the Māori Land Court – Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Mata Law.

Dates for upcoming clinics are: Wednesday 9 October 2013 Thursday 14 November 2013

For more information on these clinics contact Wi Pere Mita: wipere.mita@otaralaw.org.nz

AND

FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPLAINTS LTD SEMINAR OCLC in partnership with Financial Services Complaints Ltd (FSCL) will be holding a seminar on 3 October 2013 at the Clover Park Community House, 12pm-2pm regarding COMPLAINTS ABOUT FINANCE COMPANIES which will cover: Brief information about dispute resolution schemes; FSCL process and types of complaints dealt with; Case Stories – examples of outcomes/settlements; Legislative changes- Reforms/Bills; Consumer Credit Contracts (incl. repossession, financial hardship and oppression) Questions/discussions This seminar would be good for: Budgeting Advisors Citizen’s Advice Bureau workers Community Law Workers Social Service providers Finance Industry workers Consumers Any other interested parties

For more information and to register for this seminar please contact: wipere.mita@otaralaw.org.nz or (09) 274 4966

CHANGES TO REGISTERED CHARITIES LAW The Minister of Commerce and the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector have announced new changes to registered charities’ financial reporting. These changes are expected to take effect on 1 April 2015.

AUDITED OR REVIEWED ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Charities with annual expenditure of $1 Million or more must have their financial statements audited by a qualified accountant Charities with annual expenditure between $500,000 and $1 million must have their financial statements reviewed by a qualified accountant.

Charities with annual expenditure of less than $500,000 can chose to have their financial statements reviewed or audited or neither.

AUDIT & REVIEW Both the audit and review are designed to ensure that charities’ financial statements are a true and accurate record of the organisations income and expenditure. These reporting laws help assure donors, sponsors and supporters of charities that the charity is using its money appropriately and honestly. They also ensure that the financial processes of charities are transparent.

The External Reporting Board (XRB) has issued a set of auditing standards and a set of review standards. These standards are issued under the Financial Reporting Act 1993.

For more information on these changes and downloadable audit and review standards please see the XRB website www.xrb.govt.nz

IRD NUMBERS FOR BABIES – QUICK & EASY The Department of Internal Affairs and the Inland Revenue Department have joined forces to make applying for your babies IRD number quick and easy.

When completing a Birth Registration Form for your baby, you can now apply for your baby’s IRD number by ticking a box that appears on the registration form.

Children need IRD numbers if you want to open a bank account for them or if you want to open a KiwiSaver in their name. You will also need an IRD number to apply for Working for Families Tax Credits.

The new application process has proven very popular amongst parents of newborn children with 95% of parents opting to apply for their child’s IRD upon registration.

For more information on these applications, please contact IRD on 0800 227 774 or visit their website www.ird.govt.nz

LAW NEWS & SUBSCRIPTIONS LAW NEWS If you have any news, events, seminars or anything interesting that you might like to include in the Legal Lowdown please contact Wi Pere Mita on the contact details below.

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CONTACT: Wi Pere Mita Phone: (09) 274 4966 Email: wipere.mita@otaralaw.org.nz