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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 12. June 8 1981

Law Centre Opens

Law Centre Opens

The Wellington Community Law Centre was officially opened on June 3 by the Minister of Justice Mr McLay.

The centre, run by senior law students is now able to give free legal advice and assistance. We particularly expect to help in the areas of consumer, tenancy, and minor criminal law and with bureaucracy problems. All advice given and action taken by the students will be checked with a volunteer supervising solicitor.

The Law Centre will be open from 5.30 to 9.00pm, Monday to Thursday at 280 Willis St. (in between Goodies' Takeaway Bar and the Catacombes).

The opening function was held in the Aro Valley Community Hall and was attended by a large group of interested and supportive people. Members of the Judiciary, lawyers, Members of Parliament, university staff, community members, the media and students - all rubbed shoulders during a merry evening of talk, food and drink.

Conversation was interrupted for half an hour for the official speeches by the Minister of Justice, and Brent Williams the chairperson of the Law Centre committee.

Brent expressed many of the feelings and ideas of the students involved in establishing the Centre, emphasising that our primary intent is to help the community and not to 'release our academic frustration, or to sharpen our lawyering skills on members of the public.'

Removing the Causes

Referring to the ideals of community law, he stressed our concern not only to equip people with the means to become more self reliant but also to act as an agent for changing the social structures that create injustices.

He admitted that in the initial stages we would be limited to the role of advice givers but hoped that from this we would learn more effective ways of meeting problems that arise in the community.

Drawing of a man with a bird coming out of his face

Finally Brent acknowledged the moral support which has come from the immediate community, the similar Dunedin Community Law Centre and other groups.

Mr McLay in his speech also saw the enthusiastic response to the opening of the Community Law Centre, evidenced by the large number of people present at the function, as heartening. He said the response from law, civic and local groups would act as encouragement for any other community considering the setting up of a law centre.

Although the Minister of Justice did not announce any new Government policy in the area of Community Law, he did speak positively on the topic.

Current Services Limited

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