New Zealand has amended the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 to permit the Lawyers Complaints Service to undertake an initial administrative assessment of eligible complaints before deciding whether they must proceed to a Standards Committee. The Service may take no action or no further action where specified grounds apply, including where the passage of time makes investigation impractical, a complaint is trivial, frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith, the affected person no longer wants action taken, the complainant lacks a sufficient personal connection, or an adequate alternative remedy or appeal is available.
Where none of the statutory grounds applies, the complaint must still be referred to a Standards Committee, which can consider whether there has been unsatisfactory conduct, whether the matter should be referred to the disciplinary tribunal, or whether no further action is appropriate. The New Zealand Law Society says the change is intended to focus investigative resources on complaints raising substantive concerns and to make the service more responsive for all parties. The reform follows professional consultation conducted in 2022, and the Law Society will issue guidance on how the new triage grounds will operate. Related technical amendments also clarify the regulatory position of complaints staff and Standards Committee members and make undertakings by conveyancing practitioners enforceable.