RYAN RAYGAN

The applicant sought admission to practise law in South Australia, but the Law Society of South Australia opposed this, arguing the applicant was not a fit and proper person for admission under section 15 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA). The Court of Appeal of South Australia considered the applicant's previous conduct, specifically the cancellation of his registration as a migration agent due to breaches of the code of conduct, including providing false evidence and inadequate client file management.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had discharged the onus, placed upon him by section 15(1)(a) of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA), to satisfy the Court of his fitness to practise law at the time of the determination of his application. This required the Court to assess whether the applicant's past conduct, and his explanation and contrition regarding that conduct, demonstrated that he was a fit and proper person for admission.

The Court reasoned that while the applicant had expressed regret for his past actions as a migration agent and had undertaken further studies and volunteer work, these steps did not sufficiently demonstrate a consolidated understanding and a firm, demonstrable footing regarding his fitness and propriety for admission. The Court noted that the applicant's explanation for not providing full details of the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of his migration licence was that he would have provided more detail if he had known it was required, which did not fully address the seriousness of the findings made against him. Consequently, the Court was not satisfied that the applicant met the required standard of fitness and propriety at that time.

The Court refused the application for admission. However, it indicated that this refusal did not preclude the applicant from applying again in the future, once he had had the opportunity to further consolidate his understanding and establish a more demonstrable basis for his fitness and propriety.