New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION UNIFORM LAW APPLICATION ACT 2014 - SECT 53

53 Payment of certain costs from Fund

(1) Payments are to be made from the Public Purpose Fund, in accordance with this section and subject to section 55, for the purpose of meeting the following costs and expenses--

(a) the costs of a Council in making representations, or being represented or heard, under section 21,

(b) the costs of a Council in exercising functions under Part 3.3 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) , including in responding to any appeal or review arising in relation to functions under that Part,

(c) the costs of a Council in exercising functions under Parts 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) , including in responding to any appeal or review arising in relation to functions under those Parts,

(d) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or a Council in taking action under Part 9.6 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(e) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or a Council relating to compliance with a condition to which an Australian registration certificate is subject under Division 4 of Part 3.4 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(f) the costs of a Council in exercising functions under--

(i) section 80 and Parts 3.7, 3.9 and 4.5 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) , and

(ii) Part 9 of this Act,

(g) the costs of the Law Society Council (including its members, employees or agents) in respect of an external examination or external investigation under Part 4.2 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) , to the extent that those costs are not recoverable under section 160 or 166 of that Law,

(h) the costs of the NSW Admission Board in connection with an appeal under Division 3 of Part 2.2 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(i) the costs of a Council in connection with an external intervention in relation to a law practice (including costs in connection with an application under section 341 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) or an appeal or review under section 358 of that Law) and any fees, costs and expenses payable from the Fund under section 365 of that Law,

(j) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or NCAT in relation to the administration of Chapter 5 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(k) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or Council in exercising functions for the purposes of Chapter 5 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(l) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or a Council in relation to any proceedings in or on appeal from the Supreme Court with respect to the discipline of an Australian legal practitioner or an Australian-registered foreign lawyer, including in relation to proceedings concerning the inherent jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court as referred to in section 264 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(m) the costs of the NSW Commissioner or a Council in connection with the provision of mediators for the mediation of consumer disputes under Chapter 5 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) , including costs disputes,

(n) the costs of the Costs Assessment Rules Committee in exercising functions for the purposes of this Act,

(o) the costs of a Council or the NSW Commissioner in connection with a compliance audit of a law practice under section 256 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ,

(p) without limiting any other paragraph of this subsection, the costs of a Council or the NSW Commissioner in exercising functions in relation to restrictions on advertising and other marketing of services under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) or the Uniform Rules.

(2) Those payments are to be made by the Trustees in accordance with the approval of the Secretary.

(3) The Secretary is to approve the payment from the Fund of such amounts as the Secretary considers necessary for the purpose of meeting any reasonable costs and expenses referred to in subsection (1), having regard to any budget submitted under section 54.

(4) If a local regulatory authority requests payment of any of their costs in commencing or maintaining proceedings taken in relation to the exercise of any functions referred to in subsection (1), the Secretary may, before approval is given or payment is made, request--

(a) information from the authority about whether attempts have been made to recover any or all of those costs from another party to the proceedings and, if no attempt was made, the reasons for not making an attempt, and

(b) further information from the authority if the Secretary is of the opinion that additional information is required in response to a previous request under this subsection.

(5) If the amount of costs or expenses actually expended or incurred by a beneficiary in or in respect of a relevant period--

(a) exceeds the amount approved for payment under subsection (3) in respect of costs or expenses of that kind--the Secretary is to approve payment from the Fund of such additional amount as the Secretary considers necessary and reasonable for the purpose of meeting or contributing to any underpayment, or

(b) is less than the amount approved for payment under subsection (3) in respect of costs or expenses of that kind--the Secretary is to require the beneficiary to repay to the Fund such amount already paid to the beneficiary as the Secretary specifies for the purpose of recouping the whole or a part of any overpayment.

(6) Instead of dealing with an underpayment or overpayment in accordance with subsection (5), the Secretary may deal with all or part of the underpayment or overpayment by way of adjustment of amounts approved under that subsection for payment to the beneficiary in or in respect of a future period.

(7) An approval is subject to such conditions as the Secretary specifies in the approval.

(8) Payments under this section may be made in advance of or by way of reimbursement of the relevant cost or expense.