In New Zealand, Brigitte Toy-Cronin is interviewing SRLs in family and civil court about their experience. Self-representation is running just as high in New Zealand as in Canada, and up to now the new and controversial Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill will make self-representation mandatory in the early stages of many family court proceedings.
Like the National SRL Study in Canada, Brigitte wants to find out more about what this experience is like for people and is using a website to solicit participation (http://www.selfrepresented.org.nz). It is already clear to Brigitte that many people are struggling to work in a complex system at a stressful time of their lives. “The litigants who go to court without a lawyer are entering a system that was not designed with them in mind.” Brigitte is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago. She tells us she is already overwhelmed by people who want to participate in her study.