Full description
The Law Foundation was established on 30 March 1967 by the Legal Practitioners Amendment Act, 1967 (Act No.29, 1967) which amended the Legal Practitioners Act, 1898 (Act No.22, 1898). The Law Foundation was established as a fund to be the property of the Law Society of New South Wales. The fund was to be applied 'for the purposes of furthering legal education, legal research and law reform, and the establishment, operation and maintenance of law libraries'. (1)
The Foundation was to be administered by a Board of Governors which was to consist of seven members. One was to be the Attorney-General or a person nominated by him; four were to be appointed by the Council of the Law Society; one, not being a barrister or solicitor, was to be appointed by the Attorney-General; and one, not being a barrister or solicitor, was to be appointed by the Minister of Justice. (2)
The Law Foundation Act 1979 (Act No.32, 1979) reconstituted the Law Foundation. The fund from then known as the Law Foundation Fund was to be the Foundation's property. (3) The Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of New South Wales was to appoint a Director to conduct and manage the affairs of the Foundation. (4)
The objects of the Foundation were: (a) to promote the advancement, improvement and extension of the legal education of members of the community, whether or not they have, or are in the process of obtaining, qualifications relating to the practice of law; (b) to conduct and sponsor research into the law, the legal system, law reform and the legal profession or any branch or section thereof and into their impact on the community; (c) to further law reform; (d) to contribute to the establishment and improvement of law libraries and to investigate and implement ways of expanding the community's access to legal information; (e) to collect, assess and disseminate, and to promote and assist in the collection, assessment and dissemination of, information relating to legal education, the law, the legal system, law reform, the legal profession and legal services; (f) to encourage, support or sponsor projects aimed at facilitating access to legal information and legal services; and (g) to do anything incidental or conducive to the carrying out of any of the foregoing objects. (5)
The Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of New South Wales was to consist of eleven members. Nine of the members were to be appointed by the Attorney General and of them five, of whom not more than one may be a barrister or solicitor, were to be persons who, in the opinion of the Attorney General, had special knowledge, experience or interest in relation to any of the objects of the Foundation; two, who were to be solicitors, were to be nominated by the Council of the Law Society; one, who was to be a barrister, was to be nominated by the New South Wales Bar Association; and one, who was to be a member of the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly, was to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. The other two members were to be the Attorney General or a person nominated by him; and the person holding office as Director. (6)
The Law Foundation Act 1979 was repealed by the Law and Justice Foundation Act 2000 (Act No.97, 2000). The new Act reconstituted the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales which was legally a continuation of the Law Foundation. The Foundation, as reconstituted under the 2000 Act, does not represent the Crown. The Board could appoint a Director to conduct and manage the affairs of the Foundation. (7)
The objects of the Law and Justice Foundation were to contribute to the development of a fair and equitable justice system which addresses the legal needs of the community and to improve access to justice by the community (in particular, by economically and socially disadvantaged people). In attaining its objects the Foundation was able to:
(a) conduct and sponsor research (including inter-disciplinary research) into the law, the justice system, alternative dispute resolution and the legal profession,
(b) collect, assess and disseminate information about the justice system,
(c) conduct and sponsor projects aimed at facilitating access to justice and access to information about the justice system, and,
(d) promote education about the justice system. (8)
The Board under the 2000 Act was to consist of 8 members; 7 appointed by the Attorney General and, of them, 4 were to be persons who had special expertise in the opinion of the Attorney General, and one nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and one was to be an Australian legal practitioner who was appointed from a panel of 6 persons nominated by the New South Wales Bar Association and one was to be an Australian legal practitioner who was appointed from a panel of 6 persons nominated by the Law Society of New South Wales. (9)
In 2011, the Director of the Foundation was appointed to the National Legal Assistance Advisory Board (NLAAB). (10)
In 2015, the Foundation entered into an alliance with Victoria Legal Aid. (11)
In 2018, the Foundation developed a new database for the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd to predict potential demand for their Criminal Law Practice services using Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) data. (12)
The Foundation became a leader in applied empirical research aimed at improving the fairness, equity and accessibility of the justice system in NSW and beyond. The Foundation was the justice research organisation in NSW with an explicit mandate to focus on addressing the legal needs of the community. The aim of the Foundation's research was to support access to justice through the advancement and dissemination of knowledge about the legal needs of the community, what works to meet those needs, and the operation of the legal and justice system. The Foundation achieved this by undertaking applied empirical research, providing analytical advice and expertise, developing comprehensive data tools and by disseminating relevant national and international research and practice to policy makers, managers, and front-line service providers across the legal and justice sector. (13)
Endnotes
1. Legal Practitioners Amendment Act 1967 (Act No.29, 1967) s.44B.
2. Ibid., s.44B.
3. Law Foundation Act 1979 (Act No.32, 1979) ss.4, 16.
4. Ibid. ss.8-9.
5. Ibid. s.5.
6. Ibid. Sch. 1 cl.2.
7. Law and Justice Foundation Act 2000 (Act No.97, 2000) ss.4(1)-(2) and (4), 7, 10.
8. Ibid. s.5.
9. Ibid. Sch.1, cl.2.
10. Law Foundation website, History, http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ (accessed 7 December 2022).
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid. About, Our work, http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/about/ (accessed 7 December 2022).
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