Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill includes a number of amendments to update the discipline process in the Legal Profession Act, including amendments that would:
require that at least one layperson serve on the Law Society’s Discipline Committee and on any committee of inquiry set up to hear a discipline matter;
provide that certain complaints may be referred to mediation;
empower the chairperson of the discipline committee to designate a member of the committee to conduct an investigation into the conduct of a lawyer or student-at-law;
clarify the powers of a sole inquirer and committee of inquiry;
allow a sole inquirer or committee of inquiry to impose conditions on the practice of a lawyer or student-at-law, in addition to other remedies;
allow for the suspension or termination of the right of a lawyer or student-at-law to practise law if his or her membership is suspended or terminated in another jurisdiction; and
provide for the automatic suspension of the right of a lawyer or student-at-law to practise law if he or she is serving a term of imprisonment or is on parole.
The bill also includes an amendment granting the Executive of the Law Society the authority to set out the circumstances under which a student-at-law may appear before various levels of court; an amendment to provide more protection of privileged information used in a disciplinary procedure; and various amendments to simplify terminology and improve organization.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Bill 13 has had second reading.
Motion carried; Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act, read a second time and referred to a standing committee.
The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.
