Legal aid is where the strain shows first, not where the answer ends

PremiumOpinionOpinion byDavid HarveyLaw & society columnist·NZ Herald·19 Jul, 2026 03:00 AM6 mins to readDavid Harvey is a retired District Court judge.‌Remuneration for a lawyer who provides free legal aid can be so thin that the work can pay less than the minimum wage for the hours involved.“To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.”Eight centuries after Runnymede, clause 40 of the Magna Carta still does its work.Most of the charter was medieval housekeeping; this sentence endures because the promise it makes is unconditional.

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