Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act, be read for the third time. Mahsi.

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.

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 first time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.