Gautam v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 1)

In *Gautam v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 1)*, Basten JA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an application for a stay of an order made by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The applicant, a medical practitioner, sought to stay a three-month suspension of his registration, which was due to commence shortly and was likely to expire before his appeal could be heard.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether to grant a stay of the Tribunal's suspension order pending the determination of the practitioner's appeal. This required the Court to assess the likelihood of the appeal succeeding and the balance of convenience, particularly in light of the impending expiry of the suspension period.

Basten JA granted the stay, reasoning that the appeal was reasonably arguable. He noted that the finding of professional misconduct related to a single incident that occurred three years prior to the Tribunal's order. Furthermore, the Tribunal had already deferred the commencement of the suspension for 30 days, and there was no evidence suggesting an immediate risk to patients or parents that would necessitate the suspension taking effect before the appeal was heard. The Court ordered that the suspension would not commence until the appeal was determined and directed the parties to liaise to ensure the appeal was heard expeditiously, ideally in March.