New Zealand has spent close to half a million dollars on the Christchurch mosque terrorist's appeal, with new figures revealing hundreds of thousands in legal aid and court technology costs.
Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people at two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019, sought to reopen his conviction and sentence and withdraw his guilty plea.
A five-day long appeal hearing took place in the Court of Appeal in Wellington last month, with the decision being reserved.
Data released to 1News under the Official Information Act by the Ministry of Justice showed $182,159.60 had already been paid in legal aid linked to Tarrant’s appeal, covering the period from November 2022 to late February this year.
That figure included $139,875.91 for legal services and a further $42,283.69 in disbursements, such as expert reports, agents, and other associated costs.
Even the mosque terrorist, described as the most reviled person in New Zealand, must have the same treatment as everyone else under our law, his team of four lawyers have told the Court of Appeal as they closed their case. (Source: 1News)
Additional invoices could still be submitted, the ministry said, meaning the final total was likely to rise.
On top of legal aid expenses, the five-day appeal hearing itself required unprecedented security with $305,506.81 spent on specialised audio-visual systems and security-related court technology.
Those costs covered live streaming services, voice and identity anonymisation for Tarrant’s lawyers and some witnesses, interpretation systems, and other digital infrastructure needed to safely and securely run the hearing.
In total, the legal and technical costs disclosed so far come to $487,666.41.
The Ministry of Justice said legal aid was a guaranteed right under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, with grants assessed and approved by the Legal Services Commissioner under the Legal Services Act.
"Legal aid operates on a system of fixed fees and grants for services provided by legal aid lawyers," it said.
"In addition, legal aid lawyers also invoice for disbursements, which are other costs incurred in representing a legally aided person, such as fees for agents, expert witnesses, forensic tests, interpreters, and special reports."
The 35-year-old Australian claimed he only pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act in 2020 because he had been suffering "inhumane" prison conditions in solitary confinement.
He claimed he felt forced to plead guilty because the lawyers he had at the time refused to run the defence he wanted.
He is currently serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.
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