The new Incorporated Societies Act 2022 and your constitution: Dispute resolution procedures

Introduction

The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (the “new Act”) recently received Royal Assent, resulting in significant changes for the 24,000 incorporated societies in New Zealand. The new Act replaces the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (the “old Act”), which has been long overdue for an upgrade. We have discussed ten key changes for incorporated societies to be aware of in our article here and provided a lot of detailed information in the form of articles and seminars here. Contact us for a copy of our comprehensive handbook.

All incorporated societies will be required to reregister under the new Act, so it is a chance to revisit all aspects of these organisations. Section 26 of the new Act sets out what a society’s constitution must contain. This is important as the society’s constitution must comply with the new Act in order to reregister. We have detailed notes on the reregistration process here and are helping many comply with the requirements.

In a series of six articles we have set out the key requirements for your society’s updated constitution, as prescribed by section 26 of the new Act. This article will discuss what your constitution needs to provide in relation to disputes resolution procedures.

Dispute resolution procedures

Unlike the old Act, the new Act requires the society’s constitution to include dispute resolution procedures, including provision for how a complaint may be made, in accordance with sections 38 to 44.

A society can develop its own dispute resolution procedures, so long as those procedures are consistent with natural justice. This is provided for by section 39 of the new Act.
Clauses 2 to 8 of schedule 2 sets out disputes resolution procedures a society may decide to include. Should a society include the schedule 2 procedures, its dispute resolution procedures will be presumed to be consistent with natural justice according to section 41 of the new Act.
If a society’s constitution does not contain dispute resolution procedures, under clause 6 of schedule 1 the constitution will be treated as including those procedures set out in the Act.

Summary

With the new Act comes a lot of changes to the requirements for an incorporated society’s constitution. We have helped many incorporated societies over the years and would be happy to discuss your situation with you, especially when it comes to amending your society’s constitution so it meets the requirements set out in the new Act. You can contact us any time by email or phone.

We have a lot more resources at this page dedicated to the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

This article is not a substitute for legal advice and you should consult your lawyer about your specific situation. Please feel free to contact us at Parry Field Lawyers: