Queensland College of Teachers v El-Sayed

CITATION:

Queensland College of Teachers v El-Sayed [2014] QCAT 348

PARTIES:	Queensland College of Teachers (Applicant/Appellant)
v
Wael Mohamed El-Sayed (Respondent)

APPLICATION NUMBER:

OCR114-14

MATTER TYPE:

Occupational regulation matters

HEARING DATE:

On the papers

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

Senior Member O’Callaghan

DELIVERED ON:

11 July 2014

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

ORDERS MADE:

1. The suspension of the registration of Wael Mohamed El-Sayed as a teacher is continued.

CATCHWORDS:

Occupational regulation – suspension of teacher – whether exceptional case – whether suspension should continue

Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 (Qld) ss 48, 53, 54, 55

APPEARANCES and REPRESENTATION (if any):

This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld) (QCAT Act).

REASONS FOR DECISION

Queensland College of Teachers (‘QCT’) suspended Wael Mohamed El-Sayed’s teachers registration on 26 May 2014 pursuant to s 48 of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 (Qld) on the grounds that he had been charged with three counts of indecent dealing with a person with an impairment of the mind Guardian/carer pursuant to s 216 of the Criminal Code.
In accordance with s 50(5) the QCT has referred the continuation of the suspension to QCAT for review. QCAT must decide whether to continue the suspension or whether it is an exceptional case in which the best interests of children will not be harmed if the suspension were ended.[1]
[1]Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 (Qld) s 53(1), (3).
Directions were made by QCAT inviting Wael Mohamed El-Sayed to file submissions as to why this is an exceptional case for ending the suspension of his teachers registration. No submissions have been received from Wael Mohamed El-Sayed.
As such there is no evidence before the Tribunal that this is an exceptional case for ending the suspension of the registration of Wael Mohamed El-Sayed as a teacher. I am not satisfied that it is an exceptional case in which the bests interests of children would not be harmed if the suspension were to be ended before the criminal charges had been finalised.
As such I order that teacher Wael Mohamed El-Sayed’s teacher registration suspension continue.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) sought to continue the suspension of Wael Mohamed El-Sayed’s teacher registration, which was initially suspended on 26 May 2014. QCT referred the matter to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) for review, as required by statute, to determine whether the suspension should continue. QCAT must decide if this is an exceptional case in which the best interests of children will not be harmed if the suspension is ended. The matter was heard and determined on the papers.

The primary legal issue before QCAT was whether the suspension of Mr El-Sayed’s teacher registration constituted an exceptional case under s 53(1) of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 (Qld), allowing the suspension to be lifted despite pending criminal charges. The court needed to assess whether there was evidence to demonstrate that the best interests of children would not be harmed if the suspension were to be lifted before the criminal charges had been finalised. The QCT had directed Mr El-Sayed to file submissions as to why this was an exceptional case for ending the suspension, but he did not provide any submissions.

The Senior Member O’Callaghan found that there was no evidence before the Tribunal to demonstrate that this was an exceptional case warranting the lifting of the suspension. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the best interests of children would not be harmed if the suspension were ended before the criminal charges had been finalised. Consequently, the Senior Member determined that the suspension of Mr El-Sayed’s teacher registration should continue.

In light of the findings, Senior Member O’Callaghan ordered that the suspension of Wael Mohamed El-Sayed’s teacher registration should continue. The decision was made on the basis that no evidence was presented to show that this was an exceptional case in which the best interests of children would not be harmed if the suspension were to be lifted before the criminal charges had been finalised.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established