Rivera v Health Care Complaints Commission

The appeal concerned a decision of the Medical Tribunal (NSW) which found that Dr Rivera had engaged in professional misconduct. The appellant, Dr Rivera, challenged the Tribunal's findings on several grounds, arguing that the Tribunal had erred in law in its assessment of the evidence and its characterisation of his conduct. The appeal was heard by the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Medical Tribunal had erred in law in its determination that the patient's complaints were proved to the requisite standard of proof, and whether the conduct found to be proved was properly characterised as professional misconduct. The Court also considered whether the Tribunal's rejection of the patient's evidence in relation to one complaint had an improper effect on her general credibility, and whether the Tribunal had correctly used similar fact evidence to support its conclusion regarding a second complaint.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. It found that the Tribunal had not erred in law in its reasoning process. The Tribunal was entitled to accept parts of the patient's evidence while rejecting others, and this did not automatically render her entire testimony unreliable. Furthermore, the Tribunal's use of similar fact evidence was permissible to strengthen its conclusion that the second complaint was established. The Court affirmed the Tribunal's findings of professional misconduct.