Legal Practice Act, 2014 (Act No. 28 of 2014)Chapter 7 : Handling of Trust Monies87. Accounting |
| (1) | A trust account practice must keep proper accounting records containing particulars and information in respect of— |
| (a) | money received and paid on its own account; |
| (b) | any money received, held or paid on account of any person; |
| (c) | money invested in a trust account or other interest-bearing account referred to in section 86; and |
| (d) | any interest on money so invested which is paid over or credited to it. |
| (2) |
| (a) | The Council or the Board may, itself or through its nominee, at the cost of the Council or the Board, inspect the accounting records of any trust account practice in order to satisfy itself that the provisions of section 86 and subsection (1) are being complied with. |
| (b) | If on an inspection it is found that these provisions have not been complied with, the Council or the Board may write up the accounting records of the trust account practice and recover the costs of the inspection and the writing up of the accounting records from the trust account practice concerned. |
| (3) | For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), "accounting records" include any record or document kept by or in the custody or under the control of any trust account practice which relates to— |
| (a) | money held in trust; |
| (b) | money invested in terms of section 86(2), (3) or (4) and interest thereon; |
| (c) | any estate of a deceased person or any insolvent estate or any estate placed under curatorship, in respect of which an attorney in the trust account practice is the executor, trustee or curator or which he or she administers on behalf of the executor, trustee or curator; or |
| (d) | the affairs of the trust account practice. |
| (4) |
| (a) | Any money held in the trust account of a trust account practice in respect of which the identity of the owner is unknown or which is unclaimed after one year, must, after the second annual closing of the accounting records of the trust account practice following the date upon which those funds were deposited in the trust account of the trust account practice, be paid over to the Fund by the trust account practice. |
| (b) | Nothing in this subsection deprives the owner of the money contemplated in paragraph (a) of the right to claim from the Fund any portion as he or she may prove an entitlement to. |
| (5) |
| (a) | Despite section 37(2)(a), any attorney or an advocate referred to in section 34(2)(b) or an employee of a trust account practice must, at the request of the Council or the Board, or the person authorised thereto by the Council or the Board, produce for inspection a book, document or article which is in the possession, custody or under the control of that legal practitioner or such employee, which book, document or article relates to the trust account practice or former trust account practice of such attorney or advocate: Provided that the Council or the Board or person authorised by the Council or the Board may make copies of such book, document or article and remove the copies from the premises of that attorney, advocate or trust account practice. |
| (b) | The legal practitioner referred to in paragraph (a) or employee in question may not, subject to the provisions of any other law, refuse to produce the book, document or article, even though he or she is of the opinion that it contains confidential information belonging to or concerning his or her client. |
| (6) | Any person who performs any function under this section, may not disclose any information which he or she obtained in the performance of such a function except— |
| (a) | for the purposes of an investigation or hearing by a disciplinary body; |
| (b) | to any person authorised thereto by the Council or the Board who of necessity requires it for the performance of his or her functions under this Act; |
| (c) | if he or she is a person who of necessity supplies it in the performance of his or her functions under this Act; |
| (d) | when required to do so by order of a court of law; |
| (e) | at the written request of the Ombud; or |
| (f) | at the written request of the National Prosecuting Authority or any competent authority which requires it for the institution of an investigation with a view to the institution of any criminal prosecution. |