Justice Minister Michael Murphy is ordering a review of the province's legal aid system to figure out why it is taking so long for people to access funding for family matters.

'I advised that the cuts last year were taken out of the field, so to speak, out of the field workers and should have been taken out of administration.' — Justice Minister Michael Murphy

The province's justice minister said people who are complaining about the backlogs to receiving legal aid are right.

"It is family law that is backed up, not really criminal but family in parts of the family court such as Fredericton and certainly Moncton is a hot spot for backups," he said.

The Liberal government cut legal aid funding by five per cent cut last year and three per cent in Tuesday's budget.

Murphy said in an interview on Thursday that he's already explained to administrators at Legal Aid New Brunswick that he was upset that they cut services to the public instead of at head office.

"I called a meeting of the legal aid commission and I advised that the cuts last year were taken out of the field, so to speak, out of the field workers and should have been taken out of administration," Murphy said.

Review to be finished in February

Murphy has also ordered a review of legal aid and he wants that report on his desk by February.

The provincial budget allocated $6.6 million for legal aid in 2010-11.

He said there's no more money coming for the service, but he said people should get the help they need if the administrators cut roughly $500,000 from head office and reorganize services that already exist.

"The social workers are still available but the trail to them has certainly not been blazed very well since these cuts came in last spring," Murphy said.

The justice minister said right now legal aid will only deal with cases of domestic violence or involving children.

He said right now divorces and maintenance and shelter disputes go to the back of the line when it comes to tapping into legal aid funding.

Earlier this year, former justice minister T.J. Burke and two senior judges were gripped in a heated exchange of words over the cuts to legal aid.

Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice David Smith said in May that the cuts were made without consultation with the court system and Smith wants judges to have a greater role in administering the court system.

Burke said Smith shouldn't be commenting on government policy in front of public audiences.