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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
QUEENSLAND LAW
SOCIETY AMENDMENT
BILL 1999
Queensland
QUEENSLAND LAW SOCIETY
AMENDMENT BILL 1999
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Insertion of new s 18A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
18A Minister may require report about fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Amendment of s 21 (In addition to annual contributions,
practitioners may be required to pay levy for benefit of fund) . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 Insertion of new s 21A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
21A Prescribed levy to be paid for benefit of fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6 Amendment of s 24 (Application of fund) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7 Insertion of new s 24AA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
24AA Minister may direct further reimbursement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8 Insertion of new s 24C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
24C Fund does not protect investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9 Insertion of division heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
10 Insertion of division heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
11 Insertion of new pt 6, div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Division 3--Transitional provision for Queensland Law Society
Amendment Act 1999
57 Transitional provisions for particular practitioner levies . . . . . . . . . 9
1999
A BILL
FOR
An Act to amend the Queensland Law Society Act 1952
s1 4 s4
Queensland Law Society Amendment
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
title 2
Short
Clause 1. This Act may be cited as the Queensland Law Society Amendment Act 3
1999. 4
amended 5
Act
Clause 2. This Act amends the Queensland Law Society Act 1952. 6
of new s 18A 7
Insertion
Clause 3. After section 18-- 8
insert-- 9
may require report about fund 10
`Minister
`18A.(1) This section applies if the Minister believes, on reasonable 11
grounds, that the fund is not sufficient to satisfy the liabilities of the society 12
in relation to the fund. 13
`(2) The Minister may, by written notice to the council, require the 14
council to give the Minister a written report about the fund on the matters 15
stated in the notice. 16
`(3) The council must comply with the requirement within 14 days after 17
receiving the notice or within the further time allowed by the Minister.'. 18
of s 21 (In addition to annual contributions, practitioners 19
Amendment
may be required to pay levy for benefit of fund) 20
Clause 4.(1) Section 21(1), after `practitioner'-- 21
insert-- 22
`, or practising practitioner of a particular class,'. 23
(2) Section 21(1), `fit, not exceeding $20'-- 24
omit,insert-- 25
s5 5 s6
Queensland Law Society Amendment
`reasonable'. 1
(3) Section 21(3)-- 2
omit. 3
of new s 21A 4
Insertion
Clause 5. After section 21-- 5
insert-- 6
levy to be paid for benefit of fund 7
`Prescribed
`21A.(1) This section applies if the Minister gives the council a written 8
notice under section 18A(2). 9
`(2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, impose a levy (the 10
"prescribed levy") on every practising practitioner, or practising 11
practitioner of a particular class, for payment into the fund. 12
`(3) The prescribed levy-- 13
(a) is payable on the day and in the way stated in the regulation; and 14
(b) is in addition to any levy imposed by the council under 15
section 21(1). 16
`(4) The prescribed levy is taken to be a levy imposed by the council 17
under section 21(1). 18
`(5) Section 52 does not apply to a regulation made under this section.1 19
`(6) This section expires 1 year after it commences.'. 20
of s 24 (Application of fund) 21
Amendment
Clause 6.(1) Section 24-- 22
insert-- 23
`(1B) Subsection (1C) applies if-- 24
(a) before the commencement of this section, a practising 25
practitioner, or the practising practitioner's clerk or employee 26
1 Section 52 (Regulation making power)
s6 6 s6
Queensland Law Society Amendment
received an amount on trust for investing by way of loan; and 1
(b) the practising practitioner, or the practising practitioner's clerk or 2
employee-- 3
(i) invested the amount in a loan; or 4
(ii) purported to invest the amount in a loan (the "purported 5
loan"); and 6
(c) a person suffers a pecuniary loss mentioned in subsection (1) in 7
relation to the amount. 8
`(1C) In working out the amount to be applied for reimbursing the 9
person, the council may-- 10
(a) have regard only to the amount invested, or purported to have 11
been invested, as principal for the loan or purported loan; and 12
(b) deduct any amount, whether of principal, interest or another 13
payment however described, paid in relation to the loan or 14
purported loan, that the person has received.'. 15
(2) Section 24(4)-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`(4) Subsection (4A) applies despite subsection (1A) if the council, after 18
considering the relevant particulars for the fund, decides that the fund has, or 19
will have, sufficient assets to apply in reimbursing the persons mentioned in 20
subsection (1A) a greater total amount than the amount permitted in 21
subsection (1A). 22
`(4A) The council may apply, or approve to be applied, out of the fund 23
the amount the council decides is reasonable for the reimbursement of 24
persons mentioned in subsection (1A). 25
`(4B) The council must notify the Minister in writing if, under this 26
section, either of the following (an "event") happens in relation to a 27
pecuniary loss mentioned in subsection (1)-- 28
(a) the council decides either not to reimburse a person's loss, or not 29
to reimburse a person's loss in full; 30
(b) at any time, the council does not have a reasonable expectation 31
that the amount decided on to reimburse a person's loss will be 32
paid in full within 2 years of the decision. 33
s7 7 s7
Queensland Law Society Amendment
`(4C) The notice must give details of-- 1
(a) the assets of the fund; and 2
(b) the material particulars of the event; and 3
(c) for an event mentioned in subsection (4B)(a), the matters the 4
council considered in making its decision and its reasons for the 5
decision. 6
`(4D) The notice must be given-- 7
(a) for an event mentioned in subsection (4B)(a)--within 14 days 8
after the decision; or 9
(b) for an event mentioned in subsection (4B)(b)-- 10
(i) if the council does not have the expectation when the 11
decision is made--within 14 days after the decision; or 12
(ii) if the council ceases to have the expectation after the decision 13
is made--within 14 days after ceasing to have the 14
expectation.'. 15
(3) Section 24-- 16
insert-- 17
`(6) In this section-- 18
"loan" includes an arrangement for providing financial accommodation. 19
"relevant particulars", for the fund, means-- 20
(a) the liabilities of the fund, whether ascertained or contingent; and 21
(b) the amount of the levies for payment into the fund that may be 22
imposed under section 21.'. 23
of new s 24AA 24
Insertion
Clause 7. After section 24-- 25
insert-- 26
may direct further reimbursement 27
`Minister
`24AA.(1) This section applies if the Minister-- 28
(a) is given a notice under section 24(4B); and 29
s8 8 s8
Queensland Law Society Amendment
(b) after considering the relevant particulars for the fund and the 1
assets of the fund, reasonably believes that-- 2
(i) the loss mentioned in the notice should be reimbursed or 3
reimbursed to a greater extent; or 4
(ii) if the reimbursement of the loss is to be paid over a period, 5
the period is unreasonable. 6
`(2) The Minister may, by written notice to the society, direct the society 7
to-- 8
(a) reimburse the loss or reimburse the loss to a greater extent; or 9
(b) pay the reimbursement in the way and within the period stated in 10
the notice. 11
`(3) In this section-- 12
"relevant particulars" has the meaning given by section 24(6).'. 13
of new s 24C 14
Insertion
Clause 8. After section 24B-- 15
insert-- 16
does not protect investments 17
`Fund
`24C.(1) This section applies if a practising practitioner receives or holds 18
an amount on trust and is instructed to invest the amount. 19
`(2) A claim may not be made against the fund for reimbursing 20
pecuniary loss suffered because of the practising practitioner's unlawful 21
conduct in relation to the amount. 22
`(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply if the principal purpose for 23
which the practising practitioner holds the amount on trust is a purpose 24
other than investing the amount. 25
26
Examples for subsection (3)--
27
· the balance of settlement moneys for the purchase of property in a
28
conveyancing transaction pending settlement
29
· an amount received as the proceeds of a plaintiff's damages claim held
30
pending disbursement to the plaintiff and any persons entitled to a part of
31
the proceeds
s9 9 s 11
Queensland Law Society Amendment
1
· an amount held as executor of a deceased estate pending finalisation of
2
the estate
`(4) In this section-- 3
"practising practitioner" includes a practising practitioner's clerk or 4
employee. 5
"unlawful conduct" means conduct that, if subsection (2) did not apply, 6
would make the fund liable, under section 24, to reimburse persons 7
who suffer pecuniary loss because of the conduct.'. 8
of division heading 9
Insertion
Clause 9. Part 6, before section 54-- 10
insert-- 11
`Division 1--Transitional provisions for Act No. 13 of 1997.'. 12
of division heading 13
Insertion
Clause 10. Before section 56-- 14
insert-- 15
`Division 2--Transitional provision for Act No. 20 of 1998.'. 16
of new pt 6, div 3 17
Insertion
Clause 11. After section 56-- 18
insert-- 19
`Division 3--Transitional provision for Queensland Law Society 20
Amendment Act 1999 21
provisions for particular practitioner levies 22
`Transitional
`57.(1) This section applies if, within the 5 years immediately before the 23
commencement of this section-- 24
(a) the fund has been insufficient to satisfy the liabilities of the society 25
for the fund; and 26
s 11 10 s 11
Queensland Law Society Amendment
(b) under rules of the society made under section 5A,2 the council has 1
levied practising practitioners for an amount (the "levy amount") 2
payable into its general funds to enable the society to give or 3
advance an amount to the fund under section 22.3 4
`(2) It is declared that despite the provisions of section 21, as in force 5
immediately before the commencement of this section, the levy is taken to 6
have been validly imposed under section 21.4 7
`(3) It is further declared that-- 8
(a) the levy amount is taken-- 9
(i) to be an amount paid to or on account of the fund by a 10
practising practitioner under section 14(a);5 and 11
(ii) not to have been paid to the general funds of the society; and 12
(b) any advance under section 22 by the society to the fund arising 13
out of or because of the levy is taken to have not been made.'. 14
15
© State of Queensland 1999
2 Section 5A (Rules)
3 Section 22 (Society may advance moneys from its general funds to the fund)
4 Section 21 (In addition to annual contributions, practitioners may be required to
pay levy for benefit of fund)
5 Section 14 (Moneys payable into fund)
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