Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968 (Qld)

334 Quar811ttt^r ANNO SEPTIMO DECIMO ELIZABETHAE SECUNDAE REGINAE No. 45 of 1968 An Act to Amend The Legal Practitioners Acts , 1881 to 1965 and for other purposes [ASSENTED TO 19TH DECEMBER, 1968] BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same , as follows:- 1. Short title : This Act may be cited as the Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968. 2. (1) Construction of Act. This Act shall be read as one with The Legal Practitioners Acts 1881 to 1965, in this Act referred to as the Principal Act. (2) Collective title. The Principal Act and this Act may be collectively cited as the Legal Practitioners Act 1881-1968.

2 Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968, No. 45 335 3. Repeal of s. 9 of 2 Geo. VI No. 20. Subject to the provisions of this Act, section 9 of The Legal Practitioners Act Amendment Act of 1938, as subsequently amended, is hereby repealed. 4. Meaning of terms. In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them, that is to say:- " Board "-the Solicitors' Board constituted under the Rules of Court; " Rules of Court "-" The Solicitors' Admission Rules, 1968 " or any rules for the time being in force relating to the admission of Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Queensland in substitution therefor or amendment thereof; " solicitor "-solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland; " Solicitors' Board examinations "-examinations conducted by the Board under and in accordance with the Rules of Court. 5. Construction . The Rules of Court shall be read with and subject to the provisions of this Act. 6. Solicitors' Board examinations . Any person who satisfies the Board that- (a) he possesses one of the educational qualifications that would be required of him if he were seeking the consent of the Board to enter into articles of clerkship; or (b) he has passed the examination qualifying him for promotion to the position of Clerk of a Magistrates Court and Mining Registrar, and who has paid the fee prescribed by Rules of Court for permission to pursue the Solicitors' Board examinations, may pursue the Solicitors' Board examinations by complying with the Rules of Court relating to those examinations. 7. Qualifications for admission . (1) Notwithstanding any Act or law or Rule of Court made under any Act or law, any person- (a) who is a British subject aged twenty-one years or more; (b) who is of good fame; (c) who is an officer within the meaning of The Public Service Acts, 1922 to 1965, and has- (i) completed the Solicitors' Board examinations and completed a period of ten years' service as prescribed by subsection (2) of this section, or (ii) obtained at a University a degree in law approved by the Board and completed a period of five years' service as prescribed by subsection (2) of this section; (d) who has complied with the Rules of Court relating to- (i) the sticking up, delivery and advertising of notices of intention to apply for admission;

336 Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968, No. 45 3 (ii) the delivery of certificates of passing or, completion of, the relevant examinations; (iii) the filing and delivery of affidavits relating to compliance with the Rules of Court; (iv) the payment of fees; and (e) who has filed in the Supreme Court office at Brisbane- (i) an affidavit declaring the extent of his compliance with this Act; (ii) a certificate or certificates issued by the Under Secretary of the Department or, as the case may be, Departments of the Public Service in which the service as prescribed by subsection (2) of this section has been served certifying as to the period or periods of that service, shall be entitled to be admitted to practise as a solicitor. (2) The period of service to be completed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section- (a) shall be served as a clerk (which term shall include any appointment in the Public Service of a higher grade than that of clerk) in one or more of the following offices:- (i) the Solicitor-General's office; (ii) the Crown Solicitor's office; (iii) the Public Defender's office; (iv) any branch or section (othef than the offices of the Solicitor- General, the Crown Solicitor and the Public Defender) of the Chief Office of the Department of Justice; (v) the Parliamentary Counsel and Draftsman's Office; (vi) a Registry of the Supreme Court; (vii) a Registry of a District Court; (viii) the Public Curator's office (including any branch office thereof); (ix) an office of a Clerk of a Magistrates Court; (h) may include service wholly before or wholly after, or partly before and partly after the passing of this Act; (c) need not be continuous service; (d) may if the Board directs include service in the Commonwealth Naval, Military, or Air Forces but not so as to reduce the period of actual service to less than six years in the case of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, and to less than three years in the case of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (I) of this section. (3) A person who is entitled to be admitted to practise as a solicitor pursuant to subsection (I) of this section shall not be required to serve or have served under any articles of clerkship or to complete or have completed any period of practical training other than the period of service referred to in subsection (1) of this section.

4 Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968, No. 45 337 (4) Service by any person in an office specified in paragraph (a) of subsection -(2} of this section shall for the purposes of those rules of the Rules of Court relating to the conditional admission as solicitors in Queensland of persons admitted as solicitors outside Queensland, be and be deemed to be employment as a law clerk or legal officer in Queensland. 8. Admission of certain solicitors as barristers . (1) Any solicitor of good repute who- (a) is serving in any one of the following offices:- (i) the Solicitor-General's office; (ii) the Crown Solicitor's office; (iii) the Public Defender's office; (iv) the Parliamentary Counsel and Draftsman's office; (v) a Registry of the Supreme Court; (vi) the Public Curator's office (including any branch office thereof); or (b) is serving in or occupying the position of Chief Land Court Advocate, a Land Court advocate or an assistant Land Court advocate, and who has completed a period of five years' service as prescribed by subsection (2) of this section shall upon motion at any sittings of the Full Court of Queensland at his own request be called and admitted as a barrister-at-law without being required to pass any examination, and thereupon his name shall be removed from the Roll of Solicitors. (2) The period of service to be completed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section shall be served after admission as a solicitor in one or more of the following positions or capacities- (a) an officer performing official duties as a solicitor in one or more of the offices set forth in subsection (2) of section 7 of this Act: (b) a stipendiary magistrate; (c) a registrar, deputy registrar or taxing officer of the Supreme Court; (d) a registrar of a District Court; (e) a clerk of a Magistrates Court: (f) Chief Land Court Advocate, a Land Court advocate or an assistant Land Court advocate. In calculating such period of service, service wholly before or wholly after or partly before and partly after the passing of this Act may be included. 9. Transitional . (1) (a) The provisions of section 9 of The LegalPractitioners Act Amendment Act of 1938 as in force immediately prior to the passing of The Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act of 1961 but as subsequently amended by The Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act of 1965 shall, notwithstanding section 3 of this Act. apply (and it is hereby declared always to haye applied) to and in respect of any person

338 Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968, No. 45 5 who is serving or has served in any office mentioned in subsection (1) of the said section 9 who has passed the intermediate examination for solicitors referred to in the said section 9 on or before the thirty-first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and sixty - eight' an d for that purpose such provisions shall be deemed to continue in fo ce but such provisions shall cease to apply to and in respect of any such person who has not passed the second section of the final examination for solicitors referred to in the said section 9 on or before the thirty-first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy: Provided that any such person may at any time before the thirty-first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy , elect to take the benefit of the provisions of this Act and thereupon the Board shall grant him exemption from passing in such of the subjects of the Solicitors' Board examinations as it considers equivalent to subjects already passed by that person at any examination and such further exemptions , if any, as it may consider proper in the circumstances of his case. (b) In respect of any such person who has passed the said intermediate examination for solicitors on or before the thirty - first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and sixty - eight, it shall not be necessary for that person to have completed seven years of service as required by subsection ( 4) of the said section 9 before he may present himself for the first section of the final examination for solicitors. (c) If any such person has passed the said intermediate examination for solicitors on or before the thirty - first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and sixty - eight , but has not passed the said second section of the final examination for solicitors on or before the thirty - first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy , the Board shall grant him exemption from passing in such of the subjects of the Solicitors' Board examinations as it considers equivalent to subjects already passed by that person at any examination and such-.further exemptions, if any, as it may consider proper in the circumstances of his case. (2) (a) The provisions of section 9 of The Legal Practitioners ActAmendmentAct of 1938 as in force immediately after the passing of The Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act of 1961 shall, notwithstanding section 3 of this Act, apply (and it is hereby declared always to have applied ) to and in respect of any person who is serving or has served in any office mentioned in subsection (1) of the said section 9 and who is pursuing the Articled Clerks' Course, and for that purpose such provisions shall be deemed to continue in force but such provisions shall cease to apply to and in respect of any such person who has not completed the Articled Clerks ' Course on or before the thirty- first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy - seven: Provided that any such person may at any time before the thirty-first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy, elect to take the benefit of the provisions of this Act and thereupon the Board shall grant him exemption from passing in such of the subjects of the Solicitors' Board examinations as it considers equivalent to subjects already passed by that person at any examination and such further exemptions , if any, as it may consider proper in the circumstances of his case, (b) If any such person has not completed the Articled Clerks' Course on or before the thirty-first day of December , one thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven , the Board shall grant him exemption from

6 Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Act 1968, No. 45 339 passing in such of the subjects of the Solicitors' Board examinations as it considers equivalent to subjects already passed by that person at any examination and such further exemptions, if any, as it may consider proper in the circumstances of his case. (c) In this subsection the expression " Articled Clerks' Course " means the course of study referred to by that expression in the rules relating to admission of solicitors, in force, immediately prior to the Rules of Court.