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He recognised the inadequacies of the existing legal services to cope with all types of legal problems for all types of people. Cultural and social factors affect the situation as well as financial. He noted that in their present form Offenders' Legal Aid and Civil Legal Aid were somewhat limited in their scope, in that they did not provide assistance to people seeking redress in less tangible areas of the law and were restricted to the adversory arena of the courts.

Further he recognised the debate over the best way of implementing the ideals of community law, but was pleased that people were experimenting with ways of finding solutions to local problems. Thus he congratulated the students' effort. It seems however that the initiative will have to continue to come from the community, since no government responsibility or funding is forthcoming for community law centre's.

Now open we hope the Law Centre will meet the expectations of the community and fulfil our own ideals. It is hoped that all students, not just law students, will support the centre in any way possible. Support and enthusiasm will be essential in ensuring the success of Wellington's first community law centre.

Maureen Fraser