The Ministry of Finance has removed the 2014 Societies Act White Paper from its website. A mirrored copy of the paper, which includes an early draft of the legislation and drafters’ rationale, is available here.
The 2014 white paper is useful for societies and lawyers looking to make sense of some of the newer provisions, and to reconcile them with earlier versions in the former Society Act. The explanatory notes can also be relied on by the courts in interpreting the underlying purpose of certain provisions and the legislation as a whole, depending on context. The paper is available here: Society Act White Paper [Archived for research and private study].
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