Update on FATCA trust account requirements

 The New Zealand Law Society is contacting all trust account supervisors to update them on developments with the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in respect of lawyers' trust accounts. It says the Law Society is working with the New Zealand Bankers' Association and Inland Revenue's FATCA Team to…

Law Society provides guidance on sentencing considerations

New Zealand's judges have to balance many different factors when sentencing and a number of those factors in a particular case may be competing, New Zealand Law Society criminal law committee convenor Steve Bonnar QC says. The Law Society has released a short video in which Mr Bonnar is interviewed on sentencing considerations and asked to…

Keith Ian Jefferies suspended for six months

Wellington solicitor Keith Ian Jefferies has been suspended by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal for six months from 10 October 2016 after being convicted on drug charges. Mr Jefferies admitted a disciplinary charge of having been convicted of offences punishable by imprisonment which tend to bring his profession into disrepute. The convictions were for…

Misconduct charges against lawyer dismissed

The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed two charges against a lawyer and granted him permanent name suppression. The alleged misconduct offences arose during a client's case. The client subsequently accused the lawyer of omitting items from a file which was sent to a barrister. The Tribunal accepted…

Dunedin courthouse restoration to start in October

Justice Minister Amy Adams says work will start on upgrading and refurbishing Dunedin's historic Stuart Street courthouse in early October, and is expected to finish in December 2017. Ms Adams says South Island company Amalgamated Building has won the contract for the work. "Dunedin's courthouse is not only one of the most…

Inland Revenue transitional powers to override tax legislation not justified

Giving Inland Revenue the ability to override the Tax Administration Act while it beds in its Business Transformation programme would give officials exceptionally wide powers and is not justified, the New Zealand Law Society says. "The Tax Administration Act covers a wide range of tax administration processes and rules that are fundamental to New Zealand's revenue…

Former lawyer Greg Stewart suspended for 18 months

Former Otago lawyer Greg Roderick Stewart has admitted two charges in the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal and has been suspended from legal practice for 18 months from 6 September 2016. Mr Stewart, who voluntarily stepped down from practice before the hearing, has also been censured. The first charge was one of negligence in his…

Government response to ACC dispute resolution report encouraging

The New Zealand Law Society has welcomed Acting ACC Minister Nathan Guy's announcement that the Government will address all recommendations in Miriam Dean QC's independent report on the ACC dispute resolution processes. The convenor of the Law Society's ACC committee, Don Rennie, says the report is an important step in ensuring the access to justice issues…

Law Society seeks practical AML/CFT regime

The legal profession has a responsibility to co-operate in the global response to money laundering and terrorist financing, and inclusion of lawyers in Phase Two of the AML/CFT legislation must be through a practical monitoring and reporting regime based on proven risks in the New Zealand context, the New Zealand Law Society says. In its…

Sentence criticism ill-informed

Criticism of the sentence given to Nikolas Delegat in the Dunedin District Court is ill-informed and unfair to the Judge who followed and applied the law and guidelines relating to sentencing, the New Zealand Law Society says. "There seems to be a perception that the sentence is unusual and out of kilter. This is not correct…