There shall be a Council of Legal Education.

The Council of Legal Education shall consist of:

In addition to the members specified in subsection (2) of this section the Council of Legal Education may, from time to time, nominate for appointment one other person to be a member of the said Council.

The members of the Council of Legal Education to be appointed as aforesaid shall be appointed by the Governor-General upon the advice of the Attorney-General.

Notwithstanding the reconstitution of the Council of Legal Education by section 2 of this Act, every appointed members of the said Council who was in office immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, unless he sooner vacates his office under subsection (2) of section 5 of this Act, continue in office as a member of the said Council until the expiration of the term for which he was appointed; and the provisions of this Act shall apply to those members as if they had been appointed under paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of section 2 of this Act.

Every appointed member of the Council of Legal Education shall hold office for a term of three years, but may from time to time be reappointed.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, every appointed member of the Council of Legal Education, other than a member nominated under subsection (3) of section 2 of this Act, unless he sooner vacates his office under section 5 of this Act, shall continue to hold office until his successor comes into office.

Any appointed member of the Council of Legal Education may at any time resign his office by written notice given to the Chairman or Secretary of that Council.

If any appointed member of the Council of Legal Education dies or resigns, his office shall become vacant and the vacancy shall be deemed to be a casual vacancy.

Every casual vacancy in the office of an appointed member of the Council of Legal Education (other than a member nominated under subsection (3) of section 2 of this Act) shall, as soon as practicable, be filled by the appointment of a new member in the same manner as in the case of the vacating member. Any member appointed to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office for only the residue of the term of the vacating member.

No act or proceeding of the Council of Legal Education, or of any committee thereof, or of any person acting as a member of the said Council or any such committee, shall be invalidated in consequence of there being a vacancy in the number of the said Council or committee at the time of that act or proceeding, or of the subsequent discovery that there was some defect in the appointment of any person so acting, or that he was incapable of being or had ceased to be such a member.

The Council of Legal Education may from time to time appoint one of its members to be the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education:

Provided that, if the Chief Justice is a member of the said Council, he shall be the Chairman, unless he otherwise determines.

If the said Chairman is an appointed member of the Council of Legal Education other than the Chief Justice, he shall hold the office of Chairman while he remains in office as such a member by reason of his last appointment as such a member, unless he sooner resigns the office of Chairman.

If the Chief Justice is the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, he shall vacate that office if he ceases to be a member of that Council or determines that he shall cease to be the Chairman.

If the Chairman is not an appointed member of the Council of Legal Education, he shall hold that office for such period as the said Council shall determine or until he sooner ceases to be a member of the said Council or resigns the office of Chairman.

Meetings of the Council of Legal Education shall be held at least once each year and at such times and places as the Chairman or the said Council determines.

At any meeting of the Council of Legal Education a quorum shall consist of any five members of the said Council, and no business shall be transacted unless a quorum is present.

Any member of the Council of Legal Education who is unable to be present at a meeting of the said Council or any committee thereof may appoint some other person to attend in his place. The fact that any person so attends shall be sufficient evidence of his authority to do so; and, while attending, he shall be deemed to be a member of the Council of Legal Education.

The Chairman shall preside at every meeting of the Council of Legal Education at which he is present. If at any meeting of the said Council the Chairman is not present or there is no Chairman, the said Council may appoint some member present to act as Chairman in respect of that meeting, and the person so appointed shall, in respect of that meeting, have all the powers of the Chairman.

At any meeting of the Council of Legal Education the person presiding at the meeting shall have a deliberative vote, and, in the case of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting vote.

Every question before the Council of Legal Education shall be decided by a majority of the valid votes recorded thereon.

A resolution signed by all the members of the Council of Legal Education for the time being present in New Zealand and not incapacitated by disability from attending a meeting shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a duly constituted meeting of the said Council:

Provided that the Chairman shall report to the Council of Legal Education every resolution so signed since the previous meeting of the said Council, and lay before the said Council a copy of every such resolution.

Save as expressly provided in this Act, the Council of Legal Education may regulate the procedure of its meetings.

The Chairman of the Council of Legal Education shall call a special meeting of the Council of Legal Education on the requisition in writing of any three members.

Notice of any such meeting shall be posted to each member at his usual address at least seven days before the date of the meeting.

The functions and powers of the Council of Legal Education shall be:

Without limiting the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Council of Legal Education may, in exercising its powers under paragraph (c) of that subsection, require that a candidate so credited or exempted shall pass an examination in the law of New Zealand or in the practice of law in New Zealand or in both.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Council of Legal Education may from time to time make such regulations as may be necessary or expedient with respect to—

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1) of this section, it is hereby declared that regulations made under that subsection may make provision for the granting of credits or exemptions in special circumstances or in order to avoid hardship to any student.

All such regulations shall have effect according to their tenor, and shall be published by the Council of Legal Education.

A copy of any such regulation certified by the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education shall be sufficient evidence of the same in all Courts.

For the purposes of this section and of section 18 of this Act, notice shall be taken judicially without further proof of the appointment or right to the office of the said Chairman and of his signature.

The Council of Legal Education may from time to time appoint standing or special committees and may refer to any such committee any matters for consideration or inquiry or management.

The Council of Legal Education may from time to time delegate any of its powers and functions (including any powers and functions which it has by delegation from any other body or person, but not including this power of delegation, and not including the power to make regulations) to any such committee or to any person; and the committee to which or the person to whom any such delegation is made, as the case may be, may, without confirmation by the said Council, exercise or perform the delegated powers or functions in like manner and with the same effect as the said Council could itself have exercised or performed them.

It shall not be necessary that any person appointed to be a member of any such committee or to whom any delegation is made shall be a member of the Council of Legal Education.

The Council of Legal Education may, with the consent of the Council of any University in New Zealand, delegate to the Council of that University any of the powers and functions of the Council of Legal Education, other than the power to make regulations, together with power to sub-delegate the same.

Every such delegation shall be revocable at will and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power or function by the maker of the delegation.

Unless and until any such delegation is revoked, it shall continue in force according to its tenor.

The University Grants Committee shall pay to the members of the Council of Legal Education travelling allowances and expenses in accordance with the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951 in respect of one meeting of the said Council to be held in Wellington in each year, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly.

For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section the said Council is hereby declared to be a statutory Board within the meaning of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951.

Unless the Curriculum Committee constituted under the Universities Act 1961 otherwise decides, teaching in every subject in either of the following courses of study, namely—

shall be provided by each of the Universities.

The said Curriculum Committee shall not give any decision as aforesaid without first having received and considered any recommendations that may be made in that behalf by the Council of Legal Education unless that Council, having had reasonable opportunity to make such recommendations, has failed to do so.

Section 2 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of the term “Council”, the following definition:

Section 6 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraph (a) of subsection (1), and substituting the following paragraph:

Section 7 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraph (a) of subsection (1), and substituting the following paragraph:

The principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 6, and also from paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 7, the words “in so far as it differs from the law of England”, and substituting in each case the words “or in the practice of law in New Zealand or in both”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection (2) of section 6, and also from subsection (2) of section 7, the words “Senate of the University of New Zealand”, and substituting in each case the words “Council of Legal Education”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by repealing section 8, and substituting the following section:

The following enactments are hereby repealed:

All statutes, regulations, prescriptions, rulings, decisions, and acts of authority of the Senate of the University of New Zealand or of any committee of the said Senate or University or of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, or any officer of the said University, so far as they relate to the examinations of candidates for admission as barristers or as solicitors of the Court and were in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall continue with full force and effect as if they were made by the Council of Legal Education, and, in the case of statutes, as if they were regulations of the said Council, except so far as they are repealed, replaced, or amended by this Act or any other Act or by regulations, prescriptions, rulings, decisions, or acts of authority of the Council of Legal Education or any committee thereof or of the Council of any University under powers delegated under subsection (4) of section 12 of this Act.

All powers, authorities, and discretions vested in the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor or any officer of the University of New Zealand immediately before the commencement of this Act, so far as they relate to the examinations for admission as barristers or as solicitors of the Court, shall vest for a period of two years after the commencement of this Act in the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education.

A copy of any such statute, regulation, or prescription, or a statement in writing concerning any such ruling, decision, or act of authority, certified by the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, shall be sufficient evidence thereof in all Courts.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Property Law Act 1952 or any rule of law, any solicitor practising on his own account without partners may, while of sound mind, at any time and from time to time, with the prior written consent of every donee of the power of attorney hereinafter mentioned, give a power of attorney, in a form approved by the Council of the New Zealand Law Society, to any other solicitor or solicitors entitled to practise on his or their own account jointly or severally to conduct in the name of the donor of the power of attorney the practice and operate the trust account or accounts of that donor during such period or periods as may be specified in the power of attorney, being all or any of the periods mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, and to exercise and perform during the period or periods so specified all or any of the powers and duties connected with the conduct of that practice in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the principal Act and this Act and all regulations made under the principal Act.

The period or periods for which a power of attorney may be given under subsection (1) of this section shall be:

The powers of the donee of any power of attorney given under this section shall terminate if the power of attorney is revoked by the donor thereof or is otherwise revoked under this Part of this Act, or if the donee of the power of attorney is released under subsection (2) of section 22 of this Act, but shall not terminate by reason only of the death of the donor of the power of attorney or of his becoming of unsound mind.

While the Public Trustee is entitled under section 88 of the Mental Health Act 1911 to the custody and administration of the estate of the donor of any power of attorney given under this section, or while there is a committee appointed under that Act of that estate, or while there is a manager appointed under the Aged and Infirm Persons Protection Act 1912 of that estate, the powers of the donee of the power of attorney may at any time and from time to time be suspended by the Public Trustee or by the committee or manager, as the case may be, who may at any time revoke any such suspension.

The powers of the donee of any power of attorney given under this section shall not be exercised after the expiration of one year from the date of the grant in New Zealand of administration in the estate of the donor of the power of attorney, except during such further period or periods as may be approved by the Council of the District Law Society for the district in which the practice of that donor is conducted.

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall prevent—

In any case wherethe Public Trustee is entitled under section 88 of the Mental Health Act 1911 to the custody and administration of the estate of a solicitor who is practising on his own account without partners, or where any person is for the time being the committee under that Act or the manager under the Aged and Infirm Persons Protection Act 1912 of the estate of such a solicitor, the Public Trustee or the committee or manager (as the case may be) may, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act applicable to the solicitor so practising, give to any other solicitor or solicitors entitled to practice on his or their own account a power of attorney for the same purposes and for the same period or periods as the solicitor so practising could have done.

The administrator within the meaning of the Administration Act 1952 of the estate of a deceased solicitor who was practising on his own account without partners immediately before his death may, with the prior consent of the Council of the District Law Society in each district in which that solicitor was practising and subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act applicable to the solicitor so practising, give to any other solicitor or solicitors a power of attorney for the same purposes as the solicitor so practising could have done and for the balance remaining of the period specified in paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 19 of this Act.

No power of attorney shall be given under this section in respect of the practice of any solicitor while any other power of attorney in respect of the practice of that solicitor remains in force and has not been suspended.

All the provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply to any power of attorney given under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section as if it were given by the solicitor to whose practice the power of attorney relates.

No donee of a power of attorney given under any of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act in respect of the practice of any solicitor shall commence to act under that power of attorney until—

Forthwith upon any such Council passing any such resolution its secretary shall give notice thereof to—

All the provisions of any regulations for the time being in force relating to the audit of the trust accounts of solicitors shall apply and be observed, in each case where a power of attorney in respect of a solicitor’s practice is given under this Part of this Act, in the name and on behalf of that solicitor as if he were personally conducting his practice.

In every case where the donee of any power of attorney given under this Part of this Act becomes entitled under that power of attorney to operate any trust account of a deceased solicitor, if there is for the time being no administrator to whom a grant of probate or letters of administration has been made in respect of the estate of that solicitor, that donee shall give notice to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in the manner and within the time prescribed by section 68 of the Estate and Gift Duties Act 1955 of any payment made by him out of that trust account of any money that belonged to the deceased solicitor on the date of his death in his own right and was not subject to any trust.

Forthwith upon the revocation or suspension of a power of attorney given in respect of the practice of a solicitor under this Part of this Act, or upon the donee of such a power of attorney ceasing for any reason to act thereunder, written notice thereof shall be given, to the Secretary of the District Law Society in each district in which that practice was last conducted, by—

Where the donee of a power of attorney given in respect of the practice of a solicitor under this Part of this Act ceases to act thereunder while he is living and capable of so acting, that donee shall continue to observe and comply with the requirements of the Council of the District Law Society in each district in which that practice was conducted, and shall be personally responsible for the observance of the provisions of the principal Act and this Act and all regulations made under the principal Act until the power of attorney is revoked or suspended or the donee of the power of attorney is released by resolution passed by every such Council.

No such release shall be given by the Council of any District Law Society until that Council is satisfied by such proof as it requires that it is proper in all the circumstances to do so.

Any power of attorney given under this Part of this Act shall be revoked by operation of law upon the solicitor to whose practice the power of attorney relates commencing to practice in partnership with any other solicitor or solicitors.

Where the Secretary of any District Law Society has given notice under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 21 of this Act to any bank in which a solicitor’s trust account is kept that the Council of that Society has resolved to permit the donee of a power of attorney given in respect of the practice of that solicitor to act under that power of attorney, that bank shall notify that secretary in writing forthwith upon the bank receiving advice that the trust accounts or any trust account of that solicitor is closed or is about to be closed.

Any power of attorney given under this Part of this Act may contain provision for the donee of that power of attorney to appoint a substitute; and all the provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply accordingly to a substitute appointed under such a provision as if he had been the donee appointed by the original power of attorney.

Any donee acting under a power of attorney given under this Part of this Act shall pay all practising fees, all contributions and levies to the Solicitors’ Fidelity Guarantee Fund, and all other amounts for which the donor would have been liable under this Act if he had continued to practise as a solicitor, and, while the donor is alive, shall apply for and obtain a renewal of the practising certificate of the solicitor to whose practice the power of attorney relates. The Registrar of the Supreme Court is hereby empowered, subject to the provisions of the principal Act, to issue such a certificate with the approval of the Council of the District Law Society for every district in which the practice of that solicitor is conducted. No such practising certificate shall be issued in respect of a solicitor who has died; but while all such practising fees, contributions, levies, and amounts are being paid in respect of any such solicitor who has died, the provisions of the principal Act and all regulations made thereunder shall apply in respect of that solicitor as if he were living and the holder of a current practising certificate.

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall in any way affect the operation of sections 74 and 97 of the principal Act.

Subsection (1) of section 22 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “Government Department”, the words “and unless during the three years immediately preceding the date of his so commencing practice he has received adequate instruction and examination to the satisfaction of the Council of the District Law Society in the duties of a solicitor under this Act and under any regulations or rules for the time being in force relating to the audit of the trust accounts of solicitors or to the receipt by solicitors of money on deposit or by way of loan without security”.

Subsection (2) of section 22 of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the words “A copy of every such application shall be served on the Secretary of the District Law Society for the district in which the application to the Court is made, and that Society shall be entitled to be heard on the application”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after section 25, the following section:

The principal Act is hereby amended—

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after section 36, the following section:

Section 50 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection (1), after the word “practitioner” in each place where it appears, the words “or person”.

Section 49 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection (1), after the words “suspended from practice”, the words “otherwise than by an interim order made under subsection (1) of section 37 of this Act”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting—

Subsection (1) of section 116 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after paragraph (e), the following paragraph:

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after section 120, the following section: