To apply for a practising certificate you must:

• Fill in the application form
• Request referee reports if these are required (see Section 10 of the application form for details)
• Email the completed forms and related documents to registry@lawsociety.org.nz
• Pay the required fees and other charges

Documentation

Applications and related documentation such as references will only be accepted if dated within three months of the date the practising certificate is required.

If more than two years have passed since your admission to the High Court of New Zealand or the expiry of your last New Zealand practising certificate (whichever is more recent) you must provide references. Referee requirements are set out in the application form.

Processing applications

On receipt of an application, the Law Society must consider whether there are grounds for declining or refusing to issue a practising certificate. To do this, the Law Society may ask you to provide further information and make whatever inquiries it considers relevant.

If you have been admitted in New Zealand recently as a barrister and solicitor and you have provided all of the required information and documents, processing your application is likely to be straightforward.

Processing may take longer if:

• you have not held a practising certificate since admission
• some time has elapsed since the expiry of your last practising certificate
• you have not provided all of the required information or documents
• your application has to be referred to the Law Society Practice Approval Committee because the Law Society is aware of concerns about you or you have disclosed information that may reflect on your eligibility to hold a practising certificate.

Declining an application

The Law Society may decline your application or refuse to issue a practising certificate if it believes there may be reasonable grounds for doing so. If that is the case, the Law Society will:

• notify you of its reasons for considering declining your application or refusing to issue a practising certificate
• specify a reasonable time for you to respond
• consider your response
• either issue or decline to issue a practising certificate.

If you have been refused a practising certificate by the Law Society, you will have a right of appeal to the Disciplinary Tribunal.

For more information, contact registry@lawsociety.org.nz.