Section 20 Legal Practitioners Act

Section 20 of Legal Practitioners Act 1975 is about Accounts and Records for Clients’ moneys. It is under ‘Safeguards for Clients, etc.‘ of the sections of the Act. It provides as follows:

1. Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the Bar Council may, from time to time, as the Council considers expedient, make rules-

a. as to the opening and keeping by legal practitioners of accounts at banks for clients’ moneys; and
b. as to the keeping by legal practitioners of records containing particulars and information as to moneys received, held or paid by them for or on account of their clients; and
c. as to the opening and keeping by a legal practitioner who is the sole trustee, or who is a co-trustee only with one or more of his partners, clerks or servants, of an account at a bank for moneys of any trust of which he is the sole trustee or such a co-trustee as aforesaid; and

d. as to the keeping by such a legal practitioner as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of this subsection, of records containing particulars and information as to moneys received, held or paid by him for or on account of any such trust as is so mentioned; and
e. empowering the Bar Council to take such action as it thinks necessary to enable it to ascertain whether the rules are being complied with.

2. Rules made under subsection (1) of this section shall not come into force until they are approved by order of the Attorney-General, either without modification or with such modifications as he thinks fit; but before approving any such rules with modifications the Attorney-General shall afford the Bar Council an oppurtunity of making representations made in pursuance of this subsection.

3. If it appears to the Attorney-General that any rules should be made, revoked or altered in exercise of the powers conferred on the Bar Council by this section, he shall make a recommendation in that behalf to the Bar Council; and if within the period of six months beginning with the date of the recommendation the council has not acted in accordance with the recommendation, the Attorney-General may, within the period of twelve months beginning with that date, make rules giving effect to the recommendation.

4. Rules under this section shall not require the keeping of accounts or records-

a. by a legal practitioner in respect of moneys received, held or paid by him as a member of the public service of the Federation or a State; or

b. in such other circumstances as may be specified by the rules.

5. For the purposes of this section, “trustee” includes personal representative, and in relation to a personal representative any reference to a trust shall be construed as a reference to the deceased’s estate.