Date posted: 25 Nov 2024
As I have previously reported, in March 2024, a charge of professional misconduct I laid against a practitioner in the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal was dismissed by the Tribunal on technical grounds. I appealed that decision.
In September 2024, I reported that the Court of Appeal upheld my appeal and sent the case back to the Tribunal. At that time, there were orders in place which provided a high degree of confidentiality to the practitioner. The practitioner sought the continuation of that confidentiality. I took the view that the continuation of the confidentiality regime was not in the public interest.
On 22 November 2024, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the practitioner's applications for ongoing confidentiality (with some minor exceptions) and suppression of his identity. The Court of Appeal's decision is an important step in ensuring that the public can be properly apprised of matters of interest to them in their dealings with the legal profession and in lifting the veil of suspicion which might otherwise fall on members of the profession where proceedings occur out of the public gaze.
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