Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Karimjee

The Council of the Law Society of New South Wales brought proceedings against Hussein Karimjee before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. The dispute concerned Mr. Karimjee's fitness to practice law following his conviction for an offence under section 319 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The Law Society sought an order removing his name from the roll of Australian lawyers.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether Mr. Karimjee was probably permanently unfit to practice law, necessitating the removal of his name from the roll. A secondary issue involved an application for suppression and non-publication orders, specifically whether such orders were necessary to ensure consistency with an existing District Court suppression order, given that Mr. Karimjee's name had already been published in publicly available judgments.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that Mr. Karimjee's conviction under section 319 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) demonstrated that he was not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of Australian lawyers. The court applied the principle that a serious criminal conviction can establish probable permanent unfitness to practice. Regarding the suppression application, the court found no basis for making such orders, as the relevant names had already been disclosed in publicly accessible judgments, rendering the application inconsistent with the principle of open justice and the existing factual circumstances.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal declared that Hussein Karimjee is not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of Australian lawyers and ordered that his name be removed from the roll. The court also made orders pursuant to the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) prohibiting the disclosure of the identities of alleged victims and a specific name for a period of 80 years.