RES 1 v Medical Board of Queensland

The appeal before the Court involved a medical practitioner, RES 1, contesting the findings and orders of the Health Practitioners Tribunal of Queensland. The Tribunal had determined that RES 1 had engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct, leading to a suspension of her registration and the imposition of conditions on her practice. This decision arose from a complaint about RES 1's conduct in advising and treating a patient for a mid-trimester termination. The Tribunal's decision was based on ten particulars of unsatisfactory professional conduct. The central issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal's failure to provide adequate reasons for its decision constituted a denial of natural justice. The Tribunal had a statutory and common law duty to provide reasons, but it did not indicate whether it accepted or rejected RES 1's evidence, failed to explain why it preferred the respondent's expert evidence over RES 1's expert evidence, and did not identify the evidentiary basis for its conclusion that every particular of sub-standard professional conduct was satisfied.

The Court found that the Tribunal's decision-making process fell short of the required standard of natural justice. The lack of reasons addressing the key pieces of evidence and the basis for concluding that the particulars of unsatisfactory professional conduct were met meant that RES 1 could not properly understand or challenge the Tribunal's findings. The Court emphasised that the duty to give reasons is not only a statutory obligation but also a fundamental requirement of procedural fairness. Without adequate reasons, RES 1 was denied the opportunity to effectively respond to the allegations and evidence presented against her. Consequently, the Court concluded that the Tribunal's failure to provide adequate reasons for its decision constituted a breach of natural justice.

Given the significant procedural flaws identified by the Court, the decision of the Health Practitioners Tribunal was set aside. The matter was remitted to a differently constituted tribunal for redetermination in accordance with the law. The Court also ordered the respondent to pay the appellant's costs of the appeal and reserved the costs of and incidental to the hearing at first instance for determination by the Tribunal if not agreed between the parties. This outcome ensures that RES 1 will have a fair opportunity to have her case reconsidered by a properly constituted and reasoning tribunal.