This Act may be cited as the Dentists Act, 1936, and shall come into force on the first day of June, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven.

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

For the purposes of this Act, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Health Act, 1920, the Director of the Division of Dental Hygiene in the Department of Health shall be the deputy of the Director-General.

There is hereby established a Council, to be called the Dental Council of New Zealand.

The Council shall consist of—

The members of the Council, other than the Director-General, shall be appointed by the Governor-General for a term of three years, save that any such member may be reappointed or may be at any time removed from office by the Governor-General for disability, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Director-General, and shall vacate his office on ceasing to be registered under this Act or the Medical Practitioners Act, 1914, as the case may be. The members of the Council who are first appointed after the date of the commencement of this Act shall be appointed for a term of three years from that date, notwithstanding that any of those members may not actually be appointed until after that date.

The powers of the Council shall not be affected by any vacancy in the membership thereof.

If any member of the Council dies, retires, or otherwise vacates his office, the vacancy so created shall, within two months after the occurrence thereof, be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was originally made:

Provided that, in the event of a vacancy in the office of any member who is elected under paragraph (d) or paragraph (e) of subsection two hereof, the vacancy may be filled by appointment made on the recommendation of the Minister, without election.

Every person appointed under the last preceding subsection shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed, and no longer.

The members of the Council, other than officers in the service of the Government, shall be paid all travelling - expenses reasonably incurred by them in respect of their attendance at meetings of the Council and may also be paid such further allowances (if any) as may be lawfully appointed in that behalf.

The Director-General shall be the Chairman of the Council for the three years ending on the thirty-first day of May, nineteen hundred and forty. The Council at its first meeting to be held after the expiration of the said period of three years shall appoint one of its members to be the Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

At the expiration of the said period of one year and thereafter from year to year the Council shall appoint a Chairman for the then ensuing year, and the Chairman in office at the date of any such appointment may be reappointed.

If the Chairman ceases to be a member of the Council before the expiration of the period for which he was appointed, the Council shall appoint some other member in his stead to be the Chairman for the residue of the said period.

The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Council at which he is present. If at any meeting of the Council the Chairman is not present, or if there is no Chairman, the Council shall appoint some member present to act as the Chairman in respect of that meeting, and the person so appointed shall have and may exercise all the powers and functions of the Chairman for the purposes of that meeting.

At any meeting of the Council four members shall form a quorum.

Every question before the Council shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present at the meeting of the Council.

The Chairman of the Council shall have a deliberative vote, and, in the case of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting vote.

In the absence from any meeting of the Council of the Director-General and also of his deputy, any officer of the Department of Health may be appointed by the Director-General to act in his stead, and while so acting shall for the purposes of this Act have all the powers of the Director-General on the Council. The fact that any officer so acts as a member of the Council shall be sufficient evidence of his authority so to do.

The Council shall hold its first meeting at such time and place as the Minister appoints for that purpose, and the Director-General shall send notice of the time and place so appointed to every member of the Council.

Subsequent meetings of the Council may be summoned either by the Chairman or by the Director-General.

Notice of the time and place of every such meeting shall be sent to every member of the Council at least seven clear days before the time appointed for that meeting, but failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall not invalidate anything done at any meeting of the Council.

Save as expressly provided in this Act, or in regulations thereunder, the Council may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

Every adult person shall be entitled to be registered under this Act who satisfies the Council—

Notwithstanding anything in the last preceding subsection, but subject to the provisions of section thirteen hereof as to appeals, no person shall be registered under this Act if, in the opinion of the Council, he is not a fit person to be so registered by reason of the fact that—

The power to make statutes conferred on the Senate by section nine of the New Zealand University Amendment Act, 1926, is hereby extended to enable it to make statutes—

Application for registration as a dentist under this Act shall be made in writing in the prescribed form addressed to the Director-General. Every such application shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

On receipt by the Director-General of any such application he shall forthwith submit the same to the Council for its consideration.

At its first meeting after any such application has been submitted to it, or as soon thereafter as practicable the Council shall consider the application and shall give such directions in respect thereof as it thinks fit and as are hereinafter authorized.

Before giving any such directions the Council may, if it thinks fit, examine on oath or otherwise any person applying to be registered under this Act, or any person objecting to that registration, or any other person, with respect to that application; and for the purposes of this section the Chairman of the Council may administer an oath to any person.

The Council may also, if it thinks fit, require any person to verify by statutory declaration any statement made by him with respect to any application before the Council, or with respect to any objection to that application.

If the Council, after considering any such application as aforesaid, is of opinion that the applicant is entitled to be registered under this Act, it shall so direct, and the Director-General shall thereupon register that person, and shall notify him accordingly.

If the Council, after considering any such application as aforesaid, is of opinion that the applicant is not entitled to be so registered, it shall direct accordingly, and the Director-General shall thereupon refuse to register that person, and shall notify the applicant accordingly.

If any applicant who has been refused registration as aforesaid is dissatisfied with the direction of the Council he may apply to the Supreme Court for an order to the Director-General that he be registered under this Act, and thereupon the Court may order that the person applying be so registered or may make such other order as it thinks fit, and in any such case the costs of the proceedings shall be in the discretion of the Court.

Registration under this Act shall be effected by the entry in the Register of Dentists (which shall be kept in the prescribed form by the Director-General) of the name and address of the applicant, of the qualifications by virtue of which he is registered, and of such other particulars as may be prescribed.

The Register of Dentists shall be open to inspection by the public during ordinary office hours on payment of the prescribed fee.

The Director-General shall, on application in that behalf made to him at any time by a dentist and on payment of the prescribed fee, issue to that dentist a certificate of registration in the prescribed form.

Every person who wilfully procures or attempts to procure himself or any other person to be registered under this Act by making or producing, or causing to be made or produced, any false or fraudulent representation or declaration, either verbally or in writing, commits an offence and is liable to twelve months’ imprisonment or to a fine of fifty pounds.

Every Registrar of Births and Deaths in New Zealand, on receiving notice of the death of any dentist, shall forthwith transmit by post to the Director-General a certificate under his hand of that death, with the particulars of the time and place of death; and on the receipt of that certificate the Director-General shall remove the name of the deceased dentist from the register.

Every dentist who at any time changes his address as appearing on the register shall, within three months thereafter, send to the Director-General a notice of his new address, and the Director-General shall thereupon correct the entry in the register relating to that dentist accordingly.

Every dentist who fails to comply with the provisions of the last preceding subsection is liable to a fine of five pounds.

The Director-General may at any time, and shall, if the Council so directs, send to any dentist, by registered letter addressed to him at his address as appearing on the register, an inquiry as to whether or not he desires to have his name retained on the register.

If no reply is received to that letter within six months from the posting thereof, or if the letter is not delivered and is returned to the Director-General, the Director-General shall, if the Council so directs, remove from the register the name of the dentist to whom the letter was so sent.

Any person whose name has been removed from the register in pursuance of this section may apply to the Director-General to have his name restored to the register, and on payment of the prescribed fee his name shall be restored to the register accordingly.

Every dentist who obtains any approved dental diploma, other than that by virtue whereof he is registered, may apply to the Council to amend the register so far as it relates to the qualifications of that dentist; and on such application the Council, if satisfied that the applicant is entitled to the diploma in respect of which the application is made and that the diploma is one of a kind approved by the Council for the purposes of this section, shall direct the Director-General to amend the register accordingly, and the Director-General shall thereupon insert in the register particulars as to that diploma.

If any person has been registered under this Act by reason of any false or fraudulent representation or declaration, made either verbally or in writing, or if any person not entitled to be registered under this Act has been so registered, the Council shall cause the name of that person to be removed from the register, and the fact of that removal shall be notified by the Director-General in the Gazette.

If any particulars appearing in the register in respect of the qualifications of any dentist are proved to the satisfaction of the Council to be or are to the knowledge of the Council false or erroneous in any respect, the Council shall direct the Director-General to erase those particulars from the register, or otherwise to amend the register, and the Director-General shall thereupon amend the register accordingly.

The provisions of the last preceding subsection shall apply notwithstanding the fact that at the time when the entry in the register was made the dentist was actually possessed of the qualifications particulars whereof appear in the register, or that at that time the entry was otherwise correct.

Any person whose name has been removed from the register in pursuance of subsection one hereof, or any person the particulars of whose qualifications have been altered in pursuance of subsection two hereof, may apply to the Supreme Court for an order to the Director-General for the restoration of his name to the register, or for the restoration to the register of any particulars as to his qualifications; and thereupon the Court may make such order in the matter as it thinks fit, and in any such case the costs of the proceedings shall be in the discretion of the Court.

If, after the passing of this Act, any dentist is, in the opinion of the Council, guilty of any grave impropriety or infamous conduct in any professional respect, or if any dentist has been convicted (either before or after his registration but after the passing of this Act) of an indictable offence punishable by imprisonment with hard labour for a term of two years or upwards, the Council may, with the leave in writing of the Attorney-General, apply to the Supreme Court for an order for the removal of the name of that person from the register, and the Court may make such order in the matter as it thinks fit:

Provided that the name of the dentist shall not be removed from the register under this section by reason of any offence committed before the date of his registration if at that date the Council was aware of his conviction in respect of that offence.

In any order under this section for the removal from the register of the name of a dentist the Court may fix a time after which the person whose name is so removed as aforesaid may apply for re-registration under this Act.

After the expiration of such time any person whose name has been so removed may apply for re-registration, and all the provisions of this Act as to registration shall so far as applicable apply to re-registration under this section:

Provided that any qualification which was a sufficient qualification for registration when the applicant was originally registered shall be a sufficient qualification for re-registration in accordance with this section.

If the Court does not fix any such time as aforesaid, the Council may refuse, for such time as it thinks fit, to consider any application for re-registration:

Provided that any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Council to consider such application may apply to the Court for an order directing the Council to consider that application, or directing the Director-General to enter in the register the name of that person, and thereupon the Court may make such order in the matter as it thinks fit.

If the name of any medical practitioner who is also registered as a dentist under this Act is at any time after the commencement of this Act removed from the register of medical practitioners, the Council, with the consent of the Governor-General in Council, may remove his name from the Register of Dentists.

Any person whose name is removed from the Register of Dentists under the authority of this section shall be entitled, on application, to be re-registered if his name is at any time thereafter restored to the register of medical practitioners.

If the Council is satisfied that any person registered in New Zealand, on the grounds mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection one of section nine of this Act, has since been removed for misconduct from any register of dentists in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in His Majesty’s dominions, or that any person registered in New Zealand on the grounds mentioned in paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection one of the said section nine has since been removed for misconduct from any register of dentists or dental practitioners, it may, with the consent in writing of the Attorney-General, by writing under the hand of the Chairman, direct the removal of his name from the register; and the name shall be removed accordingly.

Notice of its intention to direct the removal of any name from the register pursuant to this section shall be given by the Council to the person affected, either personally or, if his whereabouts are unknown, by advertisement in such manner as the Council thinks sufficient, and his name shall not be removed from the register before the expiration of one month from the date of such notice.

Any person whose name has been removed from the register by direction of the Council acting or purporting to act under the authority of this section may appeal to the Supreme Court, which may make such order in the matter as it thinks just, having regard to the merits of the case and to the public welfare.

The Director-General may at any time, and shall if the Council so directs, issue to any person who has applied for registration as a dentist under this Act a provisional practising certificate, which shall entitle that person to practise as a dentist pending the consideration of his application by the Council.

Every such certificate shall, unless it has been cancelled or has lapsed, remain in force for the period stated therein, not exceeding three months, but any such certificate may be from time to time renewed.

The holder of any such certificate shall, whilst such certificate remains in force, be deemed for all purposes to be a dentist.

The Director-General may cancel such certificate at any time on the direction of the Council.

Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no person, unless he is registered as a dentist under this Act or is the holder of a provisional practising certificate, shall carry on business as a dentist or shall practise or hold himself out, whether directly or by implication, as practising or as being entitled to practise dentistry.

Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of this section is liable, in respect of each offence, to a fine of one hundred pounds.

Nothing in this section shall operate to prevent—

Subject to the provisions of the last preceding section, no dentist shall permit any unregistered person to carry on the practice of dentistry in his name or on his behalf, whether on the premises where such dentist is practising or elsewhere.

Every dentist who commits a breach of this section is liable to a fine of one hundred pounds.

If any company satisfies the Council that it has been carrying on the business of dentistry in New Zealand for not less than seven months immediately before the commencement of this Act, and that all its members are registered dentists, it may lawfully continue to carry on the business of dentistry in accordance with the provisions of this section, but not otherwise.

The authority conferred by this section shall cease and determine—

No company shall carry on the business of dentistry under the authority of this section at any time after the expiration of ten years from the date when the last of its members as at the commencement of this Act has ceased to be a member.

Where any company is carrying on the business of dentistry pursuant to the authority of this section, the names and descriptions of all the members of that company shall at all times be legibly and conspicuously displayed in or on the premises in which such business is being carried on.

If any company carries on the business of dentistry in contravention of the provisions of this section, the company and every director of the company and every person concerned in the management of the company shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine of one hundred pounds and to a further fine of five pounds for every day during which such offence continues after the conviction for any such offence of the company or of any director or other persons as aforesaid.

For the purpose of this section the term “company” means a company formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1933, or any former Companies Act, and includes any corporation other than a company so formed and registered.

On the death of any dentist actually carrying on the business of dentistry at the time of his death, it shall be lawful for his legal representative (with a view to the disposal of the goodwill) to continue such business under the management of a dentist for not more than ten years from the date of death; or if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Council that it is or may be impracticable satisfactorily to dispose of such business within such period, then for such further period or periods as may be allowed by the Council.

Every person commits an offence who, not being registered under this Act, uses or causes or permits to be used in connection with his business any written words, titles, or initials, or any abbreviation of any words, titles, or initials, which are intended to cause or may reasonably cause any person to believe that he is registered under this Act or that he is qualified to practise dentistry.

Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable to a fine of twenty pounds for each such offence, and to a further fine of five pounds for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

If the Council has reason to believe that any dentist has been guilty of grave impropriety or infamous conduct in a professional respect, it may cause to be served on him a notice specifying the grounds of its belief with sufficient particularity to enable the dentist to answer the same, and requiring him to appear before the Council, at a time and place to be specified, to show cause why he should not be suspended from the practice of his profession or be otherwise dealt with in accordance with this section.

If any dentist on whom a notice has been served under this section fails to appear before the Council in accordance with the terms of that notice, or, having appeared, fails to satisfy the Council either that he has not been guilty of the alleged impropriety or infamous conduct or that his conduct has not been of such a nature as to render the exercise of the powers of the Council under this section expedient in the interests of the public, the Council may, by writing under the hand of the Chairman, impose a penalty upon the dentist not exceeding fifty pounds, or, with the consent in writing of the Attorney-General, suspend the dentist from practice for a period not exceeding twelve months. In giving or withholding consent under this subsection the Attorney-General shall consider only the gravity and nature of the alleged impropriety or conduct, apart from the question whether the dentist has in fact been guilty of such impropriety or conduct.

Every monetary penalty imposed by the Council under this section shall be recoverable as’ a debt due to His Majesty, and shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Consolidated Fund.

While any order of suspension from practice under this section remains in force the dentist shall be deemed not to be a dentist, but forthwith on the expiry of such order his rights and privileges as a dentist shall be revived as from the date of such expiry.

There shall be a right of appeal to the Supreme Court from an order of suspension or the imposition of a penalty under this section, and on any such appeal the Court may make such order as it thinks proper, having regard to the merits of the case and to the public welfare.

An order of suspension shall not take effect in any case until the expiration of twenty-one days after the notification by the Council to the dentist of the making of such order. If within the said period of twenty-one days the dentist gives due notice of appeal to the Supreme Court, such order shall not take effect unless and until it is confirmed by the Supreme Court or the appeal is for any reason dismissed by that Court:

Provided that, unless the Supreme Court otherwise orders, the period of suspension named in the order shall commence on the day when the order commences to have effect.

The powers conferred on the Council by this section are in addition to its powers under sections twenty-two and twenty-four hereof, and it shall not be obligatory on the Council to take any steps under this section before proceeding to exercise any of the powers conferred by the said sections.

In this section “year” means the period of twelve months beginning on the first day of June and ending on the thirty-first day of May next following.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing provisions of this Act, no person shall after the commencement of this Act be entitled to practise dentistry unless he is the holder of an annual practising certificate issued in accordance with this section.

Every person who practices dentistry in breach of the last preceding subsection commits an offence, and is liable to a fine of five pounds for every day during which the offence continues.

Subject to the payment of the prescribed fee, the Director-General, on application in that behalf by any registered dentist, shall issue to him an annual practising certificate, and any such certificate shall be in force during the year in respect of which it is issued:

Provided that if at any time during the currency of any such certificate the holder thereof ceases to be registered as a dentist such certificate shall be deemed to be cancelled.

Every person entitled to receive an annual practising certificate under this section shall be deemed to have obtained such certificate when he has duly applied to the Director-General for the same and has paid the prescribed fee.

Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to—

All proceedings in respect of offences against this Act shall be taken in a summary way, and shall be heard before a Stipendiary Magistrate alone.

A certificate under the hand of the Director-General to the effect that any person was or was not registered as a dentist or was or was not the holder of a provisional practising certificate under this Act at any time or during any period specified in such certificate, or as to any entry in the Register of Dentists or as to any act or proceeding of the Council, shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of the matters therein specified.

The Director-General shall take and receive the fees prescribed by regulations under this Act with respect to the matters specified in such regulations.

Until the prescribed fee has been paid the Director-General may decline to do any act, or to permit any act to be done, or to receive any document in respect of which that fee is payable.

All such fees and all other moneys received under this Act shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Consolidated Fund, and all expenses incurred in respect of the administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys to be from time to time appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

The Governor-General may from time to time by Order in Council, make regulations under this Act—

All regulations made under the authority of this Act shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days after the making thereof if Parliament is then in session, and, if not, then within fourteen days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

The Dentists Act, 1908, the Dentists Amendment Act, 1910, and the Dentists Amendment Act, 1921–22, are hereby repealed.

All registers, registrations, records, certificates, instruments, and generally all acts of authority which originated under any of the said enactments, and are subsisting or in force on the coming into operation of this Act shall enure for the purposes of this Act as fully and effectually as if they had originated under this Act and accordingly shall, where necessary, be deemed to have so originated.

All regulations made by the Senate pursuant to paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection one of section twenty-four of the Dentists Act, 1908, shall hereafter continue in force as and be deemed to be statutes made by the Senate pursuant to section nine of this Act.

The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages having, in relation to the Dentists Act, 1908, any applications, certificates, diplomas, registers, or other documents whatsoever shall, on the request in writing of the Director-General, deliver the same to the Director-General.