Legal Services Act 2011

Administration of legal services system - Miscellaneous provisions - Service

115: Service of notices, etc

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"How you can get important notices and messages"

Illustration for Legal Services Act 2011

You can get notices and other communications in several ways. You can get them by someone giving them to you personally. You can also get them by someone leaving them at your home or business in New Zealand. You can get notices by post too. If you do, the notice is considered given to you when the letter would have been delivered normally. To prove the letter was delivered, it is enough to show it was addressed and posted correctly. You can also get notices electronically. This means you can get them by email or other electronic means. When you get a notice electronically, it is considered given to you when it first enters a system outside the control of the person who sent it. In this case, an information system is a way of sending, receiving, or storing electronic communications. You can read more about this in the Legal Services Act 2011. This is similar to the 2000 No 42 s 114 legislation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3142963.

This page was last updated on 25 December 2025 — View changes

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114: Regulations, or

"Rules Made by the Governor-General"

116: Effect of rights conferred by this Act, or

"Having rights under this law doesn't change others' rights or how courts make decisions."

Part 3Administration of legal services system
Miscellaneous provisions: Service

115Service of notices, etc

Any notice or other communication required to be given to any person under this Act or the regulations may be given by delivering it to that person, and may be delivered—
personally; or
by leaving it at that person's usual or last known place of residence or business in New Zealand; or
by posting it in a letter addressed to the person at his or her usual or last known place of residence or business in New Zealand; or
by sending it to that person electronically.

If a notice or any other communication is sent to a person by post, then, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the notice or other communication is deemed to have been given to that person when the letter would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post.
In proving delivery, it is sufficient to prove that the letter was properly addressed and posted.
If a notice or any other communication is served in electronic form under subsection (1)(d), then, unless the contrary is shown,—
the notice or other communication is served at the time the electronic communication containing the notice or communication first enters an information system outside the control of its originator; and
in proving service, it is sufficient to prove that the electronic communication was properly addressed and sent.

In this section, information system means a system for producing, sending, receiving, storing, displaying, or otherwise processing electronic communications.

Compare

2000 No 42 s 114

Notes

Section 115(1)(b): amended, on 2 September 2013, by section 25 of the Legal Services Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 43).
Section 115(1)(c): amended, on 2 September 2013, by section 25 of the Legal Services Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 43).
Section 115(1)(d): inserted, on 14 November 2018, by section 151(1) of the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Act 2018 (2018 No 51).
Section 115(4): inserted, on 14 November 2018, by section 151(2) of the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Act 2018 (2018 No 51).
Section 115(5): inserted, on 14 November 2018, by section 151(2) of the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Act 2018 (2018 No 51).