Finlayson Christopher: Legal Services Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
Finlayson Christopher: Legal Services Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2224] 
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) 
: 
 I wish to raise one very technical matter that I have not quite finished with. It relates to clause 44(2) which deals with sections 72A and 73 of the principal Act. [ 
Interruption 
] As Mr Hughes would have heard me say those sections deal with the issue of suspension or cancellation of listing by lawyers who may be engaged by the Legal Services Agency. The only point I wish to make—and I heard Mr Fairbrother interject to ask my friend Ms Wilkinson whether this was discussed at the Justice and Electoral Committee and indeed it was not—is in respect of this issue. It could not have been reasonably expected to be raised at the select committee. 
Since this legislation has come back to the House we have dealt with the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill. As Mr Fairbrother will realise—and I am sure Mr Hughes will if he was listening to that debate—there is a completely different regime for dealing with recalcitrant lawyers in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill and it is quite a lot more complex and subtle than the disciplinary provisions that are contained in the Law Practitioners Act 1982. Under new section 72A which is inserted by section 32 a person may suffer a temporary suspension of his or her listing if that person “is charged with an offence or is subject to disciplinary procedures under the Law Practitioners Act 1982;”. I cannot imagine that the words “Law Practitioners Act 1982” will survive but I am interested in whether that terminology is accurate to describe the new disciplinary regime under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill insofar obviously as it relates only to lawyers because conveyancers will not be able to apply for legal aid on behalf of clients. 
 The second point relates to clause 33 which substitutes new section 73 in the principal Act. That deals with cancellation of listing in one of eight circumstances. I have no problem with subsection (1) paragraphs (a) through to (g) but a question does arise for me about paragraph (h). That paragraph provides that there can be a cancellation of listing if “the person is convicted of an offence or subject to an order made under section 106 or section 112 of the Law Practitioners Act 1982.” Of course as I said I am not sure whether the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill has yet been assented to by the Governor-General but the reality of the matter is that given its imminent assent we will need to do something about subsection (1)(h). It does not really capture the kinds of offences that will apply under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act—as it soon will be—and that will necessarily be a factor the agency will need to take into account in determining whether a person will have his or her listing cancelled. 
We have an opportunity now to tidy up that point. It is a technical point but it should be tidied up and clarified now before this legislation is passed into law and before we have to have another minor amendment probably tied up in a Statutes Amendment Bill in the rush at the end of the year. I would appreciate it if the Minister could provide some guidance on that. I acknowledge that it is not only a transitional matter but that it is a substantive matter but it is one that has just come to my attention.