New Zealand Law Society - Continuing Professional Development (CPD) auditing for compliance 2021

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) auditing for compliance 2021

Each year the New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa, under rule 8 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Ongoing Legal Education—Continuing Professional Development) Rules 2013 (CPD Rules), audits a selection of lawyers’ plans and records for compliance.

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As this process was disrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19, to ensure valuable data from two unique years is not lost, the audit process this year will require practitioners to submit both their 2019/20 and 2020/21 plans and records (CPDPRs).

For most practitioners, selection for audit is random – so you may be selected for audit even if you have been audited previously. However, if you have not yet made your CPD declaration for the last CPD year and have not contacted the Law Society regarding a late declaration, you may find that you are audited for compliance with the Rules.
 
We anticipate our audit process will begin in early July and conclude by November. If you are audited, you will receive an email from the Law Society requesting you submit your 2019/20 and 2020/21 CPDPRs within seven working days. It is expected that in order to have made your CPD declaration that your CPDPR is up to date.
 
For further information about CPD audits, see our FAQ section on the Law Society website