A NZ judge who failed to stand down from a Court of Appeal case in which he had a financial relationship with one of the lawyers involved is being investigated.

The Government will shut the state agency responsible for legal aid in a rapid response to Dame Margaret Bazley's damning report.

A scathing report into the state of legal aid sees the chairwoman and three board members resign, after a letter from the justice minister.

The Ministry of Justice is "extremely disappointed" at the Public Service Association's (PSA) rejection of a pay offer.

Crown prosecutors will be the next target of a Government crackdown on how the justice system is run.

A believer in Scott Watson's innocence plans to reinterview key witnesses in the case of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

A damning review of legal aid says a sea change is needed to fix a system undermined by incompetent and sometimes corrupt lawyers.

An Auckland man who dumped his wife in a written note has been ordered to pay her interim maintenance of $10,000 a month.

Privately run prisons are on the Government's agenda after Parliament today passed a bill allowing them to be handed over.

Halatau Naitoko would have died instantly when accidentally shot by police, a forensic pathologist has told the coroner's inquest into his death.

Gunman Stephen McDonald looked "possessed" as he led police to a motorway where they shot an innocent teenager dead, an inquest has heard.