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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
South Australia
Legal Practitioners (Miscellaneous) Amendment
Bill 2019
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the
Legal
Practitioners Act 1981
.
Contents
Part 2—Amendment of Legal
Practitioners Act 1981
4Amendment of section 14AB—Certain matters
to be reported by Society
5Amendment of section 57A—Payment of
interest accruing on trust accounts
6Amendment of section
72—Functions
7Amendment of section
77N—Investigation of allegation of overcharging
8Amendment of section
80—Constitution and proceedings of Tribunal
9Amendment of section
82—Inquiries
11Amendment of Schedule 1—Incorporated
legal practices
Schedule 1—Transitional
provisions
The Parliament of South Australia enacts as
follows:
This Act may be cited as the Legal Practitioners (Miscellaneous)
Amendment Act 2019.
This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by
proclamation.
In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a
specified Act amends the Act so specified.
Part 2—Amendment
of Legal Practitioners
Act 1981
4—Amendment
of section 14AB—Certain matters to be reported by
Society
Section 14AB(1)(a)—delete "Schedule 3" and substitute:
Schedule 2
5—Amendment
of section 57A—Payment of interest accruing on trust
accounts
(1) Section 57A(2)(b)—delete "40 per cent" and substitute:
45%
(2) Section 57A(2)(c)—delete paragraph (c) and substitute:
(c) the remaining 5% of the money may, at the direction of the
Attorney-General—
(i) also be paid to the Fidelity Fund; or
(ii) be paid to a person or persons nominated by the Attorney-General
subject to such conditions as the Attorney-General directs.
(3) Section 57A(5)—delete "subsection (2)(c)" and
substitute:
subsection (2)(c)(ii)
6—Amendment
of section 72—Functions
Section 72(2)—delete subsection (2) and substitute:
(2) The Commissioner may—
(a) with the approval
of the Attorney-General, fix, and require the payment of, fees in connection
with the performance of functions of the Commissioner under this Act;
and
(b) waive the payment of, or refund, the whole or part of a fee fixed
under
paragraph (a)
.
7—Amendment
of section 77N—Investigation of allegation of
overcharging
(1) Section 77N—after subsection (4) insert:
(4a) The Commissioner—
(a) may require a complainant to pay the reasonable costs of an assessment
by a legal practitioner arranged under subsection (4)(b); and
(b) may, if the complaint is upheld, refund those costs to the
complainant.
(2) Section 77N(7)(a)—delete "$10 000" and substitute:
$50 000
8—Amendment
of section 80—Constitution and proceedings of
Tribunal
(1) Section 80(1b)—after "interlocutory matter" insert:
or an application for an extension of time
(2) Section 80—after subsection (1b) insert:
(1ba) The Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, hear and determine an
application for an extension of time for the laying of a charge when it hears
and determines proceedings in relation to the charge.
9—Amendment
of section 82—Inquiries
Section 82(2a)—delete subsection (2a) and substitute:
(2a) A charge may not be laid before the Tribunal more than 5 years
after the day on which the person laying the charge became aware of the conduct
to which the charge relates unless—
(a) the charge is laid by the Attorney-General; or
(b) the Tribunal allows an extension of time.
After section 95D insert:
95E—Wills register
If a register of wills made in this State is maintained by the Society, a
legal practitioner does not breach a duty of confidentiality owed by the
practitioner to a client for whom the practitioner has prepared a will merely by
publishing on the register, without the client's consent, the name and date of
birth of the client or the date of the will, provided that—
(a) the will was made before the commencement of this section;
and
(b) the practitioner has been unable to contact the client despite having
taken reasonable steps to do so for the purpose of obtaining the client's
consent to publication of the information.
11—Amendment
of Schedule 1—Incorporated legal practices
Schedule 1—before clause 1 insert:
A1—Interpretation
In this Schedule—
approved form means a form approved by the Supreme
Court.
Schedule 1—Transitional
provisions
(1) Section 77N of the
Legal
Practitioners Act 1981
as amended by
section 7
of this Act applies in relation to a complaint of overcharging received by
the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner after the commencement of the
amendment irrespective of whether the final bill to which the complaint relates
was delivered to the client before or after that commencement.
(2) Section 80 of the
Legal
Practitioners Act 1981
as amended by
section 8
of this Act applies in relation to an application for an extension of time
heard by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal after the commencement of
the amendment irrespective of whether—
(a) the charge or charges in relation to which the application is being
made were laid before or after that commencement; or
(b) the alleged conduct the subject of the charge or charges in relation
to which the application is being made occurred before or after that
commencement.
(3) Section 82 of the
Legal
Practitioners Act 1981
as amended by
section 9
of this Act applies in relation to—
(a) a charge laid before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
prior to the commencement of the amendment that has not been finally determined
before that commencement; and
(b) the laying of a charge before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary
Tribunal following the commencement of the amendment irrespective of whether the
alleged conduct to which the charge relates occurred before or after that
commencement.