Law Reform Commission Act 1967

This Act may be cited as the Law Reform Commission Act 1967.

In this Act, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:

Chairperson means the Chairperson of the Commission.

Commission means the Law Reform Commission constituted under this Act.

Commissioner means a commissioner appointed under section 3 and includes the Chairperson.

Reference means a reference referred to in section 10.

There shall be a Law Reform Commission which shall have and may exercise the powers, authorities, duties and functions conferred and imposed upon it by this Act.

The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson appointed by the Governor and not less than 2 other commissioners appointed by the Governor.

A person is qualified to be appointed as the Chairperson if he or she is a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, is suitable for appointment by reason of:

being or having been the holder of a judicial office,

experience as an Australian legal practitioner in legal practice,

experience as a teacher of law, or

academic attainment in law.

A person is qualified to be appointed as a commissioner, other than the Chairperson, if:

he or she is qualified to be appointed as the Chairperson, or

he or she is a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, is suitable for appointment by reason of the person’s special qualifications, training or experience.

A qualification for appointment as the Chairperson or a commissioner, other than the Chairperson, may be a qualification obtained within New South Wales or outside New South Wales, or partly within and partly outside New South Wales.

A commissioner shall, in accordance with the instrument of appointment or reappointment, be a full-time commissioner or part-time commissioner.

A commissioner appointed as a full-time commissioner shall, except as provided by section 4 or except in so far as the Minister otherwise approves in writing, devote the whole of his or her time to the duties of the office.

A commissioner shall, subject to this Act, be appointed for such term, not exceeding 7 years, as is specified in the instrument of appointment and is eligible for reappointment as a commissioner.

The appointment of a person who is the holder of judicial office as a commissioner shall not, nor shall the person’s service as a commissioner, affect the person’s tenure of that office or the person’s rank, title, status, precedence, salary or other rights or privileges as a holder of that office.

A person who is the holder of a judicial office may, notwithstanding that the person is a commissioner, exercise powers as a holder of that office, but while the person is a commissioner the person shall not (unless otherwise provided by the instrument of appointment as commissioner) be required to perform duties as a holder of that office.

The service, as commissioner, of a holder of a judicial office shall, for all purposes, be taken to be service as a holder of that judicial office.

The Governor may appoint a commissioner to be Deputy Chairperson.

Subject to section 10 (2), the Deputy Chairperson shall during the absence, illness or incapacity of the Chairperson or during any vacancy in the office of the Chairperson have and may exercise the powers, authorities, duties and functions conferred or imposed upon the Chairperson by this Act.

A full-time commissioner, not being the holder of a judicial office, is entitled to be paid remuneration in accordance with the Statutory and Other Offices Remuneration Act 1975.

A part-time commissioner is entitled to be paid such allowances and such fees as the Minister may from time to time determine in respect of the part-time commissioner.

The leave which may be granted to a full-time commissioner, not being the holder of a judicial office, shall be as the Minister may from time to time determine in respect of such commissioners.

Where, by or under any Act, provision is made requiring a person who is the holder of an office specified therein to devote the whole of the person’s time to the duties of the office, or prohibiting the person from engaging in employment outside the duties of the office, the provision shall not operate to disqualify the person from holding that office and also the office of a part-time commissioner.

The office of a part-time commissioner shall, for the purposes of any Act, be deemed not to be an office or place of profit under the Crown.

The appointment of a commissioner, not being the holder of a judicial office, shall, subject to this Act, be in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be specified in the instrument of appointment or as may be agreed upon by the Governor and the commissioner.

The Government Sector Employment Act 2013 does not apply to or in respect of the appointment of a commissioner by the Governor and a person so appointed is not, in the person’s capacity as a commissioner, subject to that Act while the person holds office as a commissioner.

Schedule 1 has effect with respect to the preservation of rights of certain persons on their appointment as full-time commissioners.

The Governor may remove a commissioner, being the holder of a judicial office, from office upon the address of both Houses of Parliament, but not otherwise.

The Governor may remove a commissioner (not being the holder of a judicial office) from office:

for inability, misbehaviour or failure to comply with the terms and conditions of employment as a commissioner,

if the commissioner, being a full-time commissioner, engages, except in so far as the Minister otherwise approves in writing, in any paid employment outside the duties of the office,

if the commissioner becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their benefit,

if the commissioner becomes a temporary patient, a continued treatment patient, a protected person or an incapable person within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1958 or a person under detention under Part 7 of that Act, or

if the commissioner is convicted in New South Wales of a crime or an offence which is punishable by imprisonment for 12 months or upwards, or the commissioner is convicted elsewhere than in New South Wales of a crime or an offence which, if committed in New South Wales, would be a crime or an offence so punishable.

A commissioner may resign his or her office by writing under his or her hand addressed to the Governor.

(Repealed)

The Commission, in accordance with any reference to it made by the Minister:

shall consider the law, enacted or promulgated by the Legislature of New South Wales or by any person under the authority of that Legislature, with a view to, or for the purpose of:

eliminating defects and anachronisms in the law,

repealing obsolete or unnecessary enactments,

consolidating, codifying or revising the law,

simplifying or modernising the law by bringing it into accord with current conditions,

adopting new or more effective methods for the administration of the law and the dispensation of justice,

systematically developing and reforming the law,

shall consider proposals relating to matters in respect of which it is competent for the Legislature of New South Wales or any person under the authority of that Legislature to enact or promulgate laws, and

may for the purposes of this section hold and conduct such inquiries as it thinks fit.

For the purposes of any inquiry under this section:

the Commission and the Chairperson shall have the powers, authorities, protections and immunities conferred on a commissioner by Division 1 of Part 2 of the Royal Commissions Act 1923, and that Act (section 13 and Division 2 of Part 2 excepted) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to any witness summoned by or appearing before the Commission,

the provisions of Division 2 of Part 2 of that Act (section 17 excepted) shall apply where the Chairperson or the Deputy Chairperson, if he or she is a judge of the Supreme Court and is acting as Chairperson, is presiding at the inquiry, and

the provisions of section 17 (1), (2) and (3) of that Act shall apply where the Minister has, at any time, in, or in relation to, the reference to which the inquiry relates, declared those provisions to apply and where the commissioner presiding at the inquiry is a judge of the Supreme Court.