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Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

Restrictions on provision of legal services and conveyancing services - Practising certificates

39: Issue of practising certificates

You could also call this:

"Getting a certificate to work as a lawyer"

Illustration for Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

You can get a practising certificate from the New Zealand Law Society if your name is on the roll. The society will give you a certificate as a barrister or as a barrister and solicitor. You can also get a practising certificate from the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers if your name is on the register of conveyancers. You cannot have two practising certificates at the same time, one from each society. The society you apply to can stop you getting a certificate if you have not paid fees or levies. They can also refuse to give you a certificate if you do not meet certain criteria, such as those set out in section 94(a), or if you are not a fit and proper person as set out in section 41(1). If you are suspended from practice, you must give your current practising certificate to the society that issued it. The society can also refuse to give you a certificate if you are applying under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 and you do not meet the requirements set out in section 17 of that Act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM365751.

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Part 2Restrictions on provision of legal services and conveyancing services
Practising certificates

39Issue of practising certificates

  1. The New Zealand Law Society, on application made to it by any person whose name is on the roll, must issue to that person a practising certificate either as a barrister or as a barrister and solicitor.

  2. The New Zealand Society of Conveyancers, on application made to it by any person whose name is on the register of conveyancers, must issue to that person a practising certificate as a conveyancing practitioner.

  3. Despite subsections (1) and (2), no person may hold at the same time both a practising certificate issued under subsection (1) and a practising certificate issued under subsection (2).

  4. Despite subsections (1) and (2), the society to which the application is made—

  5. may decline to issue a practising certificate to a person until that person has paid to it any fees and levies then payable by that person under this Act or under any rules made or resolutions passed under this Act; and
    1. may refuse to issue a practising certificate to a person—
      1. on the ground that the person does not meet the criteria prescribed by practice rules made under section 94(a); or
        1. on the ground set out in section 41(1), namely, that the person is not a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate; and
        2. may refuse to issue a practising certificate to a person who, under section 19 of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997, seeks the issue of the practising certificate, if that person does not meet the requirements that apply, under section 17 of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997, in relation to an individual who seeks the issue of a practising certificate of the kind sought.

          1. A person who is suspended from practice must deposit his or her current practising certificate (if any) with the society that issued the certificate.

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