LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2007 - SECT 49 Application for grant or renewal of local practising certificate

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2007 - SECT 49

49 Application for grant or renewal of local practising certificate

(1) An Australian lawyer may apply to a regulatory authority for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate if eligible to do so under this section.

(2) An Australian lawyer is eligible to apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate if the lawyer complies with all provisions of a regulation and the legal profession rules relating to eligibility for the practising certificate and—

(a) in the case of a lawyer who is not an Australian legal practitioner at the time of making the application—

(i) the lawyer reasonably expects to be engaged in legal practice solely or principally in this jurisdiction during the currency of the certificate or renewal applied for; or

(ii) if subparagraph (i) does not apply to the lawyer or it is not reasonably practical to decide whether it applies to the lawyer—the lawyer’s place of residence in Australia is this jurisdiction or the lawyer does not have a place of residence in Australia; or

(b) in the case of a lawyer who is an Australian legal practitioner at the time of making the application—

(i) the jurisdiction in which the lawyer engages in legal practice solely or principally is this jurisdiction; or

(ii) the lawyer holds a current local practising certificate and engages in legal practice in another jurisdiction under an arrangement of a temporary nature; or

(iii) the lawyer reasonably expects to be engaged in legal practice solely or principally in this jurisdiction during the currency of the certificate or renewal applied for; or

(iv) if subparagraphs (i) , (ii) and (iii) do not apply to the lawyer or it is not reasonably practical to decide whether subparagraph (i) , (ii) or (iii) applies to the lawyer—the lawyer’s place of residence in Australia is this jurisdiction or the lawyer does not have a place of residence in Australia.

(3) For subsection (2) (b) , the jurisdiction in which an Australian lawyer engages in legal practice solely or principally is to be decided by reference to the lawyer’s legal practice during the certificate period current at the time—

(a) the application is made; or

(b) in the case of a late application—the application should have been made.

(4) An Australian lawyer is not eligible to apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate in relation to a financial year if the lawyer would also be the holder of another Australian practising certificate for that year, but this subsection does not limit the factors deciding ineligibility to apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate.

(5) An Australian lawyer must not apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate if the lawyer is not eligible to make the application.

(6) An Australian legal practitioner who—

(a) engages in legal practice solely or principally in this jurisdiction during a financial year; and

(b) reasonably expects to engage in legal practice solely or principally in this jurisdiction in the following financial year;

must apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate in relation to the following financial year.

(7) Subsection (6) does not apply to an interstate legal practitioner who applied for the grant or renewal of an interstate practising certificate on the basis that the practitioner reasonably expected to engage in legal practice solely or principally in this jurisdiction under an arrangement that is of a temporary nature.

(8) However, subsection (7) ceases to operate in relation to an interstate legal practitioner at the end of the period prescribed by a regulation for the subsection.

(9) A reference in this section to engaging in legal practice principally in this or any other jurisdiction applies only to legal practice in Australia and, accordingly, an Australian lawyer who is engaged or expects to be engaged in legal practice principally in a foreign country is nevertheless eligible to apply for the grant or renewal of a local practising certificate if the lawyer otherwise meets the requirements of this section.

Note—

The purpose of subsection (9) is to deal with a case where a person practises both in Australia and overseas. In that case, overseas practice is to be disregarded (even if it forms the principal portion of the person’s overall practice), so that eligibility is decided by reference to the person’s practice in Australia.