Qasim v Medical Council of New South Wales

The appeal concerned Dr Qasim's application for reinstatement of her medical registration, which had been refused by the Medical Council of New South Wales (the Council) and subsequently dismissed by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). Dr Qasim sought to challenge NCAT's decision before the Court of Appeal.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether NCAT had erred in its assessment of Dr Qasim's fitness to practise medicine, particularly in relation to her past mental impairment. This involved considering the relevance and weight to be given to various forms of evidence, including evidence of her professional competence, patient outcomes, psychiatric assessments, and NCAT's own observations of Dr Qasim during the proceedings. The Court also had to consider the principles governing applications for reinstatement, specifically whether NCAT was permitted to review the original decision to deregister Dr Qasim.

The Court of Appeal affirmed that the principles governing reinstatement applications require the review body to assess the applicant's current fitness to practise, rather than re-examining the original decision to deregister. The Court found that NCAT had properly considered all relevant evidence, including the psychiatric evidence and evidence of professional competence, and had given appropriate weight to its own observations. The Court concluded that NCAT's finding that Dr Qasim had not discharged the onus of proving she was no longer suffering from a mental impairment rendering her unfit to practise was not an error of law.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.