File pic Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
A panel is calling for a new independent regulator that puts the public's wellbeing at the centre of complaints about lawyers.
It says the new watchdog agency should replace the current system which has complaints handled by the lawyers' own professional group, the Law Society.
A 192-page report calls for a new watchdog agency that will help prevent the kind of culture that spurred the review in the first place in the wake of sexual misconduct at the law firm Russell McVeagh.
The panel's three members say the old legislation is no longer fit for purpose.
Professor Ron Paterson, who headed the panel, said the present system was a compromise when it was introduced 15 years ago and it was not working well for lawyers or the public.
There was clearly a perception that it was biased toward lawyers, he said. The Law Society had tended to favour the status quo, but this was understandable because "they're wearing two hats" and the legislation had given them limited powers in key areas.
"So they've tended to be reactive and they haven't been transparent and that's certainly led to a perception which I think has some basis in reality."
Professor Ron Paterson says the Law Society is not transparent in its handling of complaints. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Reforms should include an overhaul of the complaints system and the establishment of an independent regulator who would have powers to respond to some of the problems in the legal profession around culture.
Professor Paterson said the new regulator would need to be able to speak out immediately on an issue.
During the Russell McVeagh complaints process the Law Society had been gagged and unable to comment, he said.
"We need a much faster system, a system that's more supportive and sensitive to the concerns of the complainants because there have been issues of sexual harassment and so forth.
"It really needs to follow the model of other independent regulators overseas which are doing this, what we have called for and doing it well."
"We need a much faster system" Panel head Professor Ron Paterson
If the panel's recommendations were accepted, the Justice Minister would need to agree to some detailed policy work before legislation was drawn up.
"Ministers have been muttering about this since 2006 that it's a conflicted situation so yes there will need to be a new statute, a statute that states very clearly that the role of the regulator is to protect the public, to put the public first."
He was confident the Justice Minister would proceed with the changes and said the Law Society was also keen to support a new process.