Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

Complaints and discipline - Intervention in practice

173: Warrant to inspect bank accounts

You could also call this:

"A court order to check someone's bank account if money was put in unfairly"

Illustration for Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

You can get a warrant to look at someone's bank account. A Standards Committee can ask a Judge for this warrant. The warrant lets them check the account and get information from the bank. You can only get a warrant if a Judge thinks someone has put money into the account unfairly. The Judge must believe this before they issue the warrant. The warrant is used to check if money was paid into the account wrongly, and it can be used to get documents from the bank, as seen in similar legislation such as the s 27 of 2001. The people checking the account can ask the bank for documents and information. They can also make copies of these documents.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM366716.

This page was last updated on 4 January 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Money and consumer rights > Banking and loansCrime and justice > Courts and legal help

172: Warrant to search premises, or

"A court order to search someone's property"

174: Obligation to produce warrant, or

"Showing your warrant when you need to"

Part 7Complaints and discipline
Intervention in practice

173Warrant to inspect bank accounts

A Standards Committee may apply to a Judge of the High Court or a District Court Judge for a warrant to empower any member of the Standards Committee, or any other person on its behalf,—
to examine or audit the account of any person in any bank; and
for the purpose of the examination or audit,—
1. to require any officer of the bank to produce any document or provide any information that relates to that account and is in the bank's custody, care, or control; and
2. to take copies of any document so produced.

A warrant may be issued under subsection (1) only if the Judge of the High Court or District Court Judge issuing the warrant is satisfied, in relation to the account in respect of which the warrant is issued, that there is reasonable cause to believe that money entrusted to a practitioner or former practitioner or a related person or entity in connection with legal or conveyancing services has been fraudulently or wrongfully paid into that account.

Compare

2001 No 10 s 27