Donaghy v Legal Services Commissioner of New South Wales

The appeal concerned a decision of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) regarding disciplinary action against a lawyer, Mr Donaghy, initiated by the Legal Services Commissioner. The Commissioner had reprimanded Mr Donaghy for allegedly failing to comply with a practice note of the Children's Court and a direction from a magistrate. Mr Donaghy appealed this decision to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, which was later absorbed by NCAT.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether NCAT had erred in its review of the Commissioner's decision by considering matters that were extraneous to the original complaint. This involved determining the scope of NCAT's jurisdiction under section 540 of the *Legal Profession Act 2004* (NSW) and section 63 of the *Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act 1997* (NSW) when conducting its review.

The Court of Appeal found that NCAT had indeed considered matters beyond the scope of the original complaint, thereby exceeding its jurisdiction. The Court reasoned that the review function of the Tribunal was to consider the merits of the decision under appeal, not to conduct a fresh inquiry into the lawyer's conduct in a broader sense. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the orders of NCAT were set aside, and the matter was remitted to NCAT for redetermination according to law.