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New Zealand's growing Asian population is putting pressure on Auckland's already overloaded court system, a prominent lawyer says.
Almost one-third of the population in the country's largest city claimed Asian heritage, New Zealand Asian Lawyers president Mai Chen told Nine To Noon on Monday.
Chen said Asian migrants who came from different backgrounds and didn't have a good grasp of English would have some difficulty understanding the country's legal system.
They might also have unrealistic expectations of the court process and outcomes, she said.
"As a consequence of that, it may mean that they don't settle when they should," Chen said. "Then it just means that you may have cases that go all the way to trial."
The cost of legal proceedings sometimes exceeded the amount of money in dispute, she said.
Disputes between Asian family members or friends over a verbal agreement were among common cases that appeared in court, she said.
Traditional Asian values were causing problems in a New Zealand setting, Chen said.
"You just can't presume ... because we're in all in New Zealand now and that the parties live here that they necessarily adhere to the cultural presence here," she said.
"It might be hierarchy versus equality ... that's about obedience. It may be the position versus the personal ... that's about showing respect. It may be collectivism versus individualism.
"In cases like that, what you find is that Western views about honest confrontation and clearing the error are unacceptable."
Chen said lawyers needed to inform Asian clients of the consequences of going to trial while also encouraging parties to consider mediation or other dispute resolution options.
It would also be helpful for courts to collect data on ethnicity to understand the scale of the problem, she said, noting that it was something courts didn't currently do.
"We don't collect ethnicity data, but it is important for us to drill down because the reality is that if there are cultural and language issues, then we just need to front up to it."
Chen said New Zealand needed to prepare for changes in the country's demography, with a quarter of the population estimated to be of Asian heritage in 20 years' time.
"We're changing demographically, and we just need to be prepared for that," she said.
"Otherwise, this issue may get more difficult in the courts. The timeframes for cases that are ready to be heard ... getting a court fixture may continue to blow out."
The Law Society's Asian Lawyers group and the New Zealand Bar Association are expected to meet the Ministry of Justice in May to start working on ways to improve the situation.
