Applicant or 3 of 2025 v Council of the Law Society of the Act (Occupational Discipline)

The case involves an appeal by the applicant against a decision of the Law Society of the ACT. The Law Society had publicly reprimanded the applicant following an investigation into a complaint against them. The applicant contends that the Law Society failed to adhere to procedural fairness in its investigation and decision-making process, and that certain considerations were improperly taken into account or not considered at all. The Australian Capital Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) was tasked with reviewing the Law Society's decision under section 416 of the relevant Act. The legal issues before the court were whether the Law Society adhered to the rules of procedural fairness in its investigation and decision-making process, and whether it properly considered all relevant matters and disregarded irrelevant ones.

The Tribunal found that the Law Society was indeed bound by the rules of procedural fairness during its investigation. It acknowledged that while the Law Society's investigation and decision-making process was subject to the Act, procedural fairness applied to the extent it did not conflict with the Act. The Tribunal also noted that, given it was conducting a merits review of the Law Society's decision, any procedural fairness issues could generally be rectified by providing the applicant a reasonable opportunity to be heard. Regarding the applicant's contention that the Law Society considered irrelevant matters and failed to consider relevant ones, the Tribunal clarified that in judicial review, these are stand-alone grounds rather than aspects of procedural fairness. However, when reviewing a decision under section 416 of the Act, the Tribunal must determine whether, standing in the Law Society's shoes, it would consider certain matters and whether it was entitled to do so.

The Tribunal concluded that the Law Society's decision to publicly reprimand the applicant should stand, but it ordered a further hearing on 7 October 2025 to address the form of the orders the Tribunal should make and whether the interim non-publication and anonymisation orders should continue as final orders or be revoked.