New Zealand Law Society - CPD year-end FAQs
The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) year ends on 31 March and your CPD declaration is due no later than 5 working days after this date. Now is a good time to check your CPD requirements and ensure that your CPD learning plan and record (CPDPR) is up to date.
We've listed some of the top FAQs for the CPD year-end and provided some guidance for new lawyers, retiring lawyers and New Zealand lawyers practising overseas. If you don't find what you're looking for, you'll find other questions and answers grouped under the General FAQs.
Pursuant to Schedule 1 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Ongoing Legal Education – Continuing Professional Development) Rules 2013, a lawyer who has provided regulated services for nine months or less is entitled to a pro rata reduction in the minimum number of CPD hours they are required to complete. Please note that periods are rounded up or down to the nearest full month.
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You are still required to have a CPDPR and to file a declaration of compliance online despite any pro-rata reduction in your requirements. Your CPDPR should state that no activities or related records and documentation are required for that time when no regulated services were provided.
If your practising certificate was issued and/or you began providing regulated services between 1 and 15 March, you will need to complete 1 hour of CPD activities before 31 March to meet your requirements.
If you received your practising certificate and/or began providing regulated services between 16 and 31 March 2024, you will be required to complete a CPD declaration and hold a CPDPR, but your CPD requirement for the 2023/24 CPD year will be nil.
You will need to record in a document (your CPDPR) that you are not providing regulated services and that no activities are therefore required. You will also need to file a declaration of compliance at the end of each CPD year stating that you have complied with the CPD requirements.
You need to make a declaration of compliance for every CPD year/part CPD year you are in practice. If you have completed your CPD requirements for the current CPD year, you should make your declaration.
If you have any outstanding CPD requirements when you cease practising, they will still be there if/when you return to practice.
There is further Guidance for retiring lawyers and those ceasing practice below.
If you don’t complete your CPD requirements, you can’t make your CPD declaration.
There are no exemptions from CPD, but in exceptional circumstances you may apply to the Law Society for a deferment of your CPD requirements.
While rule 7 allows for you to make a late declaration, if you have not completed your CPD requirements and your CPD declaration remains incomplete when the annual practising certificate renewals process begins, you will receive an email notifying you that you will need to complete a non-compliant fit and proper declaration.
If you complete a non-compliant fit and proper declaration, you may be placed under s40 until you can show that you have completed your CPD or have an adequate plan in place to meet this statutory obligation. Failure to complete CPD is a matter that may be taken into account when considering whether a person is a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate, and failure to complete CPD is a matter that may be referred to the Lawyers Complaints Service.
In some circumstances you may need to apply to the Law Society for a deferment of your CPD requirements.
If you do not complete your CPD declaration within five-working days of 31 March, the Law Society will send you an email informing you that your declaration is now overdue.
While rule 7 allows you to make a late declaration, if your CPD declaration remains incomplete once the annual practising certificate renewals process is underway in mid-late May, you will receive a further email notifying you that you will need to complete a non-compliant fit and proper declaration.
If you complete a non-compliant fit and proper declaration, you may be placed under s40 until you can show that you have completed your CPD or have an adequate plan in place to meet this statutory obligation. Failure to complete CPD is a matter that may be taken into account when considering whether a person is a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate, and failure to complete CPD is a matter that may be referred to the Lawyers Complaints Service.
In some circumstances you may need to apply to the Law Society for a deferment of your CPD requirements.
Because the CPD scheme is learner centred, the Law Society doesn’t accredit or recommend particular activities or providers. So long as an activity aligns with your learning needs and fits the definition of activities in the Rules, meaning it’s structured with identifiable aims and outcomes relevant to your identified learning needs, provides an opportunity for interaction and feedback, is verifiable by documentation, and is not part of your usual day-to-day work, you should be able to count the activity towards your CPD requirements.
The Guidelines to the Rules (under ‘Activities’) provide guidance about how to count activities such as webinars, seminars and courses, as well as writing, mentoring, coaching, presenting, teaching, and study groups.
You will need to apply for a deferment using the application form found here, and support this with evidence of the exceptional circumstances that mean you have been unable to meet your CPD requirements. Deferments are granted for exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basis.
No. You are not required to send your CPDPR to the Law Society unless you are asked to do so as part of an audit.
Your ‘User ID’ is the six-digit number on your practising certificate, and we’ve included your ‘User ID’ in the emails we’ve sent. When entering your ‘User ID’ make sure to include any prefixed zeros, and if you’ve cut and pasted your ‘User ID’ from an email, please check that you haven’t included any spaces before or after the six digits.
If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset it by clicking on the ‘Forgot password?’ link on the Registry login page. Follow the instructions to reset your password. A password reset link will be sent to the email address we have on record for you. If your email address is out of date, you can update this by contacting us at registry@lawsociety.org.nz. New passwords need to include both lower- and upper-case letters, a number, and a special character such as an exclamation point or another symbol.
If your current password doesn’t include both lower- and upper-case letters, a number, and a special character such as an exclamation point or another symbol, you will need to update your password because it no longer meets our security requirements.
Sometimes, if you use autofill functions, your browser may automatically enter your old password causing you to get an error response. You may need to clear your cache to reset the autofill and save your new password. If you’re unsure of how to clear the cache, there are websites and online videos that can assist - just search ‘how to clear browser cache.’
If the guidance above doesn’t assist, or you continue to encounter password issues, please contact us.
If you have recently received your first practising certificate, you may be entitled to a pro rata reduction in the number of CPD hours that you need to complete. Check out our FAQ What do I do if I have only been practising for part of the CPD year (1 April – 31 March)?
The CPD Rules apply from the time that your practising certificate is issued. This means that you cannot accrue CPD hours prior to holding a practising certificate.
If you have retired or ceased practice, but you still hold a practising certificate, you will need to complete CPD activities for the period that you were providing regulated services in the 2023/24 CPD year and make your CPD declaration.
If you intend to retire or cease practice, you will need to complete CPD activities for the period you provide regulated services in the 2023/24 CPD year and make your CPD declaration.
If you cease practising and have an outstanding CPD declaration, that declaration will need to be made retrospectively if you return to practice.
Please also see the FAQ What happens if I do not complete the declaration?
If you hold a New Zealand practising certificate, you need to have a CPDPR and complete a CPD declaration each year. However, depending on your circumstances, you may not need to complete CPD activities.
Whether or not you need to complete CPD activities will rest on whether you are providing regulated services under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (LCA).
You must use your professional judgement to decide if you are providing regulated services. Regulated services are defined in section 6 of the LCA, and rule 3 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Ongoing Legal Education—Continuing Professional Development) Rules 2013 extends the definition to include holding yourself out as being willing and available.
If you are providing regulated services and do need to complete CPD activities, you may find that the CPD you are required to do in the jurisdiction you are practising in may be able to be counted towards your New Zealand requirements. You’ll just need to ensure that the activity is supporting you to fulfil your learning needs and meets the requirements set out in rule 3.1(b) of the CPD Rules.
If the FAQs above and our General FAQs haven’t provided the answer you were looking for, please email us at cpdinquiries@lawsociety.org.nz