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Wayfinding for Civil Justice

The Wayfinding for Civil Justice initiative is a stakeholder-led national strategy to improve access to civil justice. It encourages a unified and coordinated approach to improving access to civil justice. 

Mr Kibblewhite says that “We see great value in Wayfinding and look forward to seeing how those of us working in the civil justice sector (including the judiciary and Ministry of Justice) will use it to inform how we coordinate, design, and plan civil justice initiatives. We encourage you to have a read of the strategy and think about how it can guide your work and support us to work together to improve access to justice.”

Wayfinding is available in te reo Māori and English

Wayfinding was developed by an independent working group of people passionate about improving access to justice. Members of the group were Dr Bridgette Toy-Cronin (Chair), Hon Raynor Asher KC, Wi Pere Mita, Gabrielle O’Brien, and Anne Waapu. The working group undertook two rounds of engagement to develop the initiative.

Dr Toy-Cronin was the recipient of the 2024, Lexis Nexis/New Zealand Bar Association Access to Justice Award.  Together with the Hon Raynor Asher KC and Gabrielle O’Brien, she spoke at our Annual Conference about the challenges faced in the access to justice field.

As part of implementation, the working group recommended establishing a National Civil Justice Observatory to coordinate reporting of initiatives, share information between stakeholders, and maintain momentum for Wayfinding. The Wayfinding strategy has more information on the purpose of the Observatory. The Ministry of Justice is currently working to engage a tertiary institution to house the Observatory. Once an Observatory is opened, the intention is to hold an event in 2024 to celebrate Wayfinding and the Observatory.

The Borrin Foundation supported Wayfinding by contributing funding towards specific Observatory activities, including the planned launch event and the establishment of an Observatory website.

A nationwide Access to Justice Legal Needs Survey was launched in September 2023. The survey asks randomly selected participants across New Zealand about their experiences with civil justice issues and how people seek resolution of those issues (or not). These include issues relating to purchasing goods and services, employment issues, workplace injuries, family justice issues, and issues with local and central government. The survey is also focussing on small business owners’ experiences of legal issues.

Results of the survey will be released in mid-2024.