lOMoARcPSD|13097948
laws 101 test notes - all in one document
Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions (University of Canterbury)
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
What is a professional?
•Lamb & Littrich – Oxford dictionary definition
–“A vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced science or learning”
•Common traits: Millerson in Lamb & Littrich (ch 3 on LEARN):
–Skill based on body of theoretical knowledge
–Provision of training and education
–Testing competence prior to entrance
–Organisation
–Code of Ethics
–Ethos of altruistic service
•Dal Pont’s common attributes of a profession
–Special skill and learning
–Public service the principal goal
–Autonomy and self-regulation
–And – special jargon/language and collegiality
Other/modern expectations of professionalism?
•Common traits don’t differentiate accurately between activities which are not
“classically” professions
–Lamb & Littrich.
•Professionalism is expected of many agencies within the law and justice sector not traditionally
thought of as professions.
Modern ‘professions’
–Policing Act 2008 - Code of Conduct (s 20)
–Establishes standards for all New Zealand Police employees
Error! Filename not specified.
Public Servants
–s 17(1) Public Service Act 2020:
•The Commissioner may set minimum standards of integrity and conduct, including standards
relating to—
(a) the public service values:
(b) the public service principles.
•Code of Conduct for State Services
•Covers over 100 public service departments, crown entities and crown entity subsidiaries including:
–Ministry of Defence, IRD, Ministry of Health, ACC, Human Rights Commission, Oranga Tamariki,
Sport and Recreation New Zealand, and…
Public Servants Continued
•The Code is based on the sprit of service to the community
•Four main key behaviours that public service employees should demonstrate
–Fairness – “be professional and responsive”;
–Impartiality;
–Responsibility; and
–Trustworthiness.
What is a Lawyer?
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
•“n. 1. A member of the legal profession, esp a solicitor. See also advocate, barrister, solicitor. 2. A
popular name for burbot (a fish).”
- Collins English Dictionary
“A member of the legal profession”
•Refer back to Lamb & Littrich and Dal Pont common traits
–Code of ethics
•Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 - includes:
•Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, they must—
–act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements
made:
–protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties:
–give you clear information and advice:
–protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality:
–treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination:
–let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
21st Century Aotearoa|New Zealand?
•Profession not (yet) representative of society?
–In 2021 Māori approx 6.9% of practising lawyers but 16.5% of population and Treaty partner
–It is “extraordinarily difficult to be an effective lawyer these days if you don’t have some grounding
in the basics of tikanga.” - Sir Joe Williams (Judge of the Supreme Court |Te Kōti Mana Nui)
–“New Zealand’s legal profession is out of kilter with the wider New Zealand population in terms of
ethnicity, but there are indications that things are changing…” per New Zealand Law Society |
Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa
–“our law profession should reflect our communities” - Kiri Tahana (Kahui Legal)
–“There are small signs that the New Zealand legal system and New Zealand Society, as a whole, is
starting, slowly and reluctantly, to pay attention to mātauranga Māori, including Māori law, as a
matter or relevance to all who inhabit this land.” per Māmari Stephens (VUW law faculty and
university chaplain)
•34% of directors/partners of law firms are women and 23% of senior barristers (QCs) are women yet
52% of all lawyers are women
Other conceptions of a legal ‘profession'
•It is more accurately about power and control: “From this perspective, the legal profession is seen as
a monopoly, promoting a sense of exclusiveness and superiority, aloof and self interested above the
interests of clients or society itself, and very concerned with the rewards of a livelihood protected by
a monopoly in the marketplace”: Johnson and Larson in Lamb & Littrich
•A money-making business like any other?
–“…at its worst made the learned profession of an earlier day the obsequious servant of business,
and tainted it with the morals and manners of the market place in its most anti-social
manifestations”
Lawyers in NZ: Statutory definition
•s 6 Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006
–lawyer means a person who holds a current practising certificate as a barrister or as a barrister and
solicitor
•barrister means a person enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court under or by virtue of
this Act and practising as a barrister, whether or not he or she also practises as a solicitor;
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
•solicitor means a person enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court under, or by virtue of,
this Act and practising as a solicitor, whether or not he or she also practises as a barrister; …
Distinction between Barristers and Solicitors
(a) Barrister
Works mainly in the courts and tribunals.
(b) Solicitor
–May be involved in:
•general advisory work;
•drafting legal documents;
•property and land transactions;
•administering estates – distributing property according to a will;
•forming companies;
•raising or securing loans – borrowing money;
•preparatory work for barristers.
•Lawyers in New Zealand are admitted as a barrister and a solicitor and most practice in both
capacities.
(c) Barristers sole
•Specialist in court and tribunal work only – litigation advocates.
•An independent bar as a separate group within the legal profession.
•Generally cannot take instructions directly from the public, this occurs through a solicitor.
Their fee is paid by their instructing solicitor
Lawyers by the numbers
•Barristers and solicitors:
Source: Law Talk 948 Dec 2021 – all figures are approx
–14,799 lawyers based in Aotearoa|New Zealand (one for every 329 people);
–53.9 % women;
–5586 employees - lawyers practise through a firm with > 1 lawyer
•includes Crown Solicitors’ firms – prosecute serious criminal offences in the courts
–4244 employed “in-house” by a government department, corporate body or professional
association.
•E.g. Ministry for the Environment, Public Defence Service, IRD (tax), Police, Trade Unions
(e.g Nurses’ Organisation), Serious Fraud Office, City Councils, Telcos, Energy companies, etc, etc
Judiciary
•191 District Court |Te Kōti ā Rohe Judges (including Environment Court |Te Kōti Taiao Judges)
•40 High Court |Te Kōti Matua Judges and 7 Associate Judges
•11 Māori Land Court | Te Kōti Whenua Māori Judges
•10 Court of Appeal |Te Kōti Pīra Judges
•6 Supreme Court |Te Kōti Mana Nui Judges
•Must have held a practising certificate for at least 7 years: District Court Act 2016, s 15; Senior
Courts Act 2016, s 94; Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, s 7(3)
•Appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Attorney-General.
(There are other courts including the Coroners Court 18 coroners (5 years practising certificate) and
Employment Court (7 years practising certificate)
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
laws 101 test notes - all in one document
Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions (University of Canterbury)
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
What is a professional?
•Lamb & Littrich – Oxford dictionary definition
–“A vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced science or learning”
•Common traits: Millerson in Lamb & Littrich (ch 3 on LEARN):
–Skill based on body of theoretical knowledge
–Provision of training and education
–Testing competence prior to entrance
–Organisation
–Code of Ethics
–Ethos of altruistic service
•Dal Pont’s common attributes of a profession
–Special skill and learning
–Public service the principal goal
–Autonomy and self-regulation
–And – special jargon/language and collegiality
Other/modern expectations of professionalism?
•Common traits don’t differentiate accurately between activities which are not
“classically” professions
–Lamb & Littrich.
•Professionalism is expected of many agencies within the law and justice sector not traditionally
thought of as professions.
Modern ‘professions’
–Policing Act 2008 - Code of Conduct (s 20)
–Establishes standards for all New Zealand Police employees
Error! Filename not specified.
Public Servants
–s 17(1) Public Service Act 2020:
•The Commissioner may set minimum standards of integrity and conduct, including standards
relating to—
(a) the public service values:
(b) the public service principles.
•Code of Conduct for State Services
•Covers over 100 public service departments, crown entities and crown entity subsidiaries including:
–Ministry of Defence, IRD, Ministry of Health, ACC, Human Rights Commission, Oranga Tamariki,
Sport and Recreation New Zealand, and…
Public Servants Continued
•The Code is based on the sprit of service to the community
•Four main key behaviours that public service employees should demonstrate
–Fairness – “be professional and responsive”;
–Impartiality;
–Responsibility; and
–Trustworthiness.
What is a Lawyer?
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
•“n. 1. A member of the legal profession, esp a solicitor. See also advocate, barrister, solicitor. 2. A
popular name for burbot (a fish).”
- Collins English Dictionary
“A member of the legal profession”
•Refer back to Lamb & Littrich and Dal Pont common traits
–Code of ethics
•Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 - includes:
•Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, they must—
–act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and arrangements
made:
–protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising influences or loyalties:
–give you clear information and advice:
–protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality:
–treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination:
–let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.
21st Century Aotearoa|New Zealand?
•Profession not (yet) representative of society?
–In 2021 Māori approx 6.9% of practising lawyers but 16.5% of population and Treaty partner
–It is “extraordinarily difficult to be an effective lawyer these days if you don’t have some grounding
in the basics of tikanga.” - Sir Joe Williams (Judge of the Supreme Court |Te Kōti Mana Nui)
–“New Zealand’s legal profession is out of kilter with the wider New Zealand population in terms of
ethnicity, but there are indications that things are changing…” per New Zealand Law Society |
Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa
–“our law profession should reflect our communities” - Kiri Tahana (Kahui Legal)
–“There are small signs that the New Zealand legal system and New Zealand Society, as a whole, is
starting, slowly and reluctantly, to pay attention to mātauranga Māori, including Māori law, as a
matter or relevance to all who inhabit this land.” per Māmari Stephens (VUW law faculty and
university chaplain)
•34% of directors/partners of law firms are women and 23% of senior barristers (QCs) are women yet
52% of all lawyers are women
Other conceptions of a legal ‘profession'
•It is more accurately about power and control: “From this perspective, the legal profession is seen as
a monopoly, promoting a sense of exclusiveness and superiority, aloof and self interested above the
interests of clients or society itself, and very concerned with the rewards of a livelihood protected by
a monopoly in the marketplace”: Johnson and Larson in Lamb & Littrich
•A money-making business like any other?
–“…at its worst made the learned profession of an earlier day the obsequious servant of business,
and tainted it with the morals and manners of the market place in its most anti-social
manifestations”
Lawyers in NZ: Statutory definition
•s 6 Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006
–lawyer means a person who holds a current practising certificate as a barrister or as a barrister and
solicitor
•barrister means a person enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court under or by virtue of
this Act and practising as a barrister, whether or not he or she also practises as a solicitor;
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
•solicitor means a person enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court under, or by virtue of,
this Act and practising as a solicitor, whether or not he or she also practises as a barrister; …
Distinction between Barristers and Solicitors
(a) Barrister
Works mainly in the courts and tribunals.
(b) Solicitor
–May be involved in:
•general advisory work;
•drafting legal documents;
•property and land transactions;
•administering estates – distributing property according to a will;
•forming companies;
•raising or securing loans – borrowing money;
•preparatory work for barristers.
•Lawyers in New Zealand are admitted as a barrister and a solicitor and most practice in both
capacities.
(c) Barristers sole
•Specialist in court and tribunal work only – litigation advocates.
•An independent bar as a separate group within the legal profession.
•Generally cannot take instructions directly from the public, this occurs through a solicitor.
Their fee is paid by their instructing solicitor
Lawyers by the numbers
•Barristers and solicitors:
Source: Law Talk 948 Dec 2021 – all figures are approx
–14,799 lawyers based in Aotearoa|New Zealand (one for every 329 people);
–53.9 % women;
–5586 employees - lawyers practise through a firm with > 1 lawyer
•includes Crown Solicitors’ firms – prosecute serious criminal offences in the courts
–4244 employed “in-house” by a government department, corporate body or professional
association.
•E.g. Ministry for the Environment, Public Defence Service, IRD (tax), Police, Trade Unions
(e.g Nurses’ Organisation), Serious Fraud Office, City Councils, Telcos, Energy companies, etc, etc
Judiciary
•191 District Court |Te Kōti ā Rohe Judges (including Environment Court |Te Kōti Taiao Judges)
•40 High Court |Te Kōti Matua Judges and 7 Associate Judges
•11 Māori Land Court | Te Kōti Whenua Māori Judges
•10 Court of Appeal |Te Kōti Pīra Judges
•6 Supreme Court |Te Kōti Mana Nui Judges
•Must have held a practising certificate for at least 7 years: District Court Act 2016, s 15; Senior
Courts Act 2016, s 94; Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, s 7(3)
•Appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Attorney-General.
(There are other courts including the Coroners Court 18 coroners (5 years practising certificate) and
Employment Court (7 years practising certificate)
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
