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Legislation Act 2019

Parliamentary Counsel Office - Chief Parliamentary Counsel and employees of PCO

137: Chief Parliamentary Counsel and parliamentary counsel to hold legal qualification

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"Top law jobs need a law qualification"

To be the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, you must meet certain requirements. You can be a lawyer as defined in section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, or be eligible to practise law in a country specified by an Order in Council. You can also hold a qualification that the Attorney-General thinks is sufficient for the position.

To be a parliamentary counsel, you must also meet certain requirements. You can be a lawyer as defined in section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, or be eligible to practise law in a country specified by an Order in Council. You can also hold a qualification that the Chief Parliamentary Counsel thinks is sufficient for the position.

The Governor-General can specify countries and jurisdictions for these requirements, and this is done by an Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Attorney-General. An order under this section is secondary legislation, which has its own publication requirements, as outlined in Part 3.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7298468.

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Part 6Parliamentary Counsel Office
Chief Parliamentary Counsel and employees of PCO

137Chief Parliamentary Counsel and parliamentary counsel to hold legal qualification

  1. A person meets the qualification requirement in section 135(3)(a) for the office of Chief Parliamentary Counsel if the person—

  2. is a lawyer as defined in section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006; or
    1. is eligible to practise law in a country or jurisdiction specified by an Order in Council made under subsection (4); or
      1. holds a qualification that the Attorney-General considers is sufficient for the position.

        1. A person meets the qualification requirement in section 136(2) for a position as a parliamentary counsel if the person—

        2. is a lawyer as defined in section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006; or
          1. is eligible to practise law in a country or jurisdiction specified by an Order in Council made under subsection (4); or
            1. holds a qualification that the Chief Parliamentary Counsel considers is sufficient for the position.

              1. To avoid doubt, sections 21 to 24 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 do not limit the use of the term “chief parliamentary counsel” or “parliamentary counsel” to describe persons appointed to those roles.

              2. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Attorney-General, specify countries and jurisdictions for the purposes of subsections (1)(b) and (2)(b).

              3. An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 for publication requirements).

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