Counties Manukau District Health Board v Legal Services Agency - [2007] 3 NZLR 651

Legal aid — Availability — Person suing district health board — Alternative remedy of complaint to Health and Disability Commissioner — Whether access to alternative process relevant mandatory consideration in decision whether to grant legal aid — Whether possibility of legal services under Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 meant applicant for legal aid had “insufficient means to pay for legal services” under Legal Services Act 2000 — Whether Legal Services Agency considered irrelevant factor when allowing applicant choice of forum for grievance — Meaning of “legal services” — Legal Services Act 2000, ss 3, 4, 7 and 9.

Judicial review — Statutory power of decision — Legal Services Agency — Application for review of decision to grant legal aid by other party to civil proceedings for which legal aid granted — Scope and intensity of review.