249Order for payment of costs

1. The Disciplinary Tribunal may, after the hearing of any proceedings, make such order as to the payment of costs and expenses as it thinks fit.

2. In particular, the Disciplinary Tribunal may order that costs be awarded to any person to whom the proceedings relate, and that those costs be paid—

3. by the New Zealand Law Society (if that person is a lawyer or a former lawyer or an incorporated law firm or former incorporated law firm or an employee or former employee of a lawyer or incorporated law firm); or
4. by the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers (if that person is a conveyancing practitioner or a former conveyancing practitioner or an incorporated conveyancing firm or former incorporated conveyancing firm or an employee or former employee of a conveyancing practitioner or incorporated conveyancing firm).

5. In particular, without finding the person charged to be guilty, the Disciplinary Tribunal may, if it considers that the proceedings were justified and that it is just to do so, order that person to pay to the New Zealand Law Society or the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers such sums as the Disciplinary Tribunal thinks fit in respect of the expenses of and incidental to the proceedings and any investigation of that person's conduct or of that person's affairs or trust account carried out by, or on behalf of, a Standards Committee or the Legal Complaints Review Officer.

6. In this section, expenses includes not only out-of-pocket expenses but also such amounts in respect of salaries of staff and overhead expenses incurred by either the New Zealand Law Society or the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers as the Disciplinary Tribunal considers properly attributable to an investigation.