LAW PRACTITIONERS
AMENDING LEGISLATION,
WELLINGTON, Sept. 11
Important changes in the discipline and control of legal practitioners are provided for in the Law Practitioners Amendment Bill, notice of which was given by the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes). The most important of the amendments, which are being introduced at the reqjnestof the New Zealand Law Society, provides for the setting up of a disciplinary committee to deal with all breaches of discipline by legal practitioners and to have power to impose a suspension or to strike a member off the rolls. Members will have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court. The setting up of this committee, it is claimed, will have the effect of simplifying the complicated legal process which must at present be gone through when a breach of discipline occurs, and will bring New Zealand into line with England, where such a committee exists at the present time. Criminal offences, of course, will continue to bo dealt with by the Courts.
Another provision seeks to make it necessary for a solicitor, before commencing practice on his own account, to have three years’ experience with another firm. At present it is possible for a solicitor to pass his examinations in one year and commence practice the next, ■ without any experience whatever, and it is with the object of preventing this that the section lias been drawn up. The rules governing the admission of barristers and solicitors are to remain as at present. Among other minor amendments contemplated are one giving power to establish a benevolent fund for the relief of needy members and certain machinery amendments concerning the guarantee fund.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 243, 11 September 1935, Page 9
Word Count
275LAW PRACTITIONERS Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 243, 11 September 1935, Page 9
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