./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/N/87
14 December 1998
(98-5018)
Council for Trade in Services
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES
The attached notification has been submitted to the Council for Trade in Services by the
Government of Canada pursuant to its obligations under paragraph 3 of Article III of the GATS.
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1. Member(s) notifying.  If applicable the sub-central government or authority or non
governmental bodies involved should be specified.
Canada - New Brunswick - The Law Society of New Brunswick
2. Notification under Article(s):
Article III, paragraph 3, of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
3. Date of entry into force/duration:
1 January 1997.
4. Agency responsible for enforcement of the measure:
The Law Society of New Brunswick.
5. Complete description of the measure* indicating the modes of supply covered, the effect
on trade in services (e.g., restrictions/liberalization measures) and the impact of the
measure on commitments in the Member’s schedule and Article II (MFN) exemption
list, if relevant:
In April of 1996, proposed amendments to the Law Society Act  of New Brunswick received
assent and became effective on 1 January 1997 after being proclaimed into force.  The single
mode of supply affected by the revised Act is  commercial presence, which will no longer be
restricted to sole proprietorships and partnerships for law firms in New Brunswick.
The legislation permitting personal and professional incorporation of lawyers is contained in
Section 37 of the amended Law Society Act  (R.S.N.B. 1996 c. C 89).  Incorporation of law
practices is subject to a number of conditions, including, “a majority of the issued voting
shares are legally and beneficially owned by one or more members or by one or more
professional corporations, or both.”  Secondly, “all the directors of the corporation aremembers of the Society and that the corporation’s practice of law is managed only by
directors who are practising members in good standing.”  Furthermore, “all the persons who
will be practising law for the corporation must be practising members of the Society”,  withS/C/N/87
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notable exceptions for students-at-law, employees  of the corporation and persons referred to
in subsection 33(4) of this Act.  With respect to voting shares, “no shareholder of a
corporation who is a practising member shall enter into a voting trust agreement, a proxy or
any other type of agreement or instrument vesting in a person who is not a practising member
of the Society the authority to exercise the voting rights attached to any or all of thatmember’s shares or restraining the practising member from freely exercising the voting rights
attached to any or all of that member’s shares in the corporation.”  The Law Society of New
Brunswick requires a corporation to hold a valid permit to practise law in the province of
New Brunswick.
6. Members specifically affected, if any:
None.
7. Additional information available from:
Services Trade Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OG2
Canada
Telephone: +(1 613) 944 0487
Telefax : +(1 613) 944 0058 _
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