Council of New South Wales Bar Association v Annan [2014] NSWCATOD 41

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Council of New South Wales Bar Association v Annan [2014] NSWCATOD 41 Hearing dates: 4,5 November 2013 Decision date: 30 April 2014 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: D Patten, Principal Member P Blacket SC, Senior Member C Bennett ,General Member Decision: Finding of Professional misconduct. Catchwords: Barrister acting as Migration agent - concoction of documents-false statements to Migration Agents Review Authority-Practice as Migration Agent whilst disqualified. Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004, Migration Act (Commonwealth) Cases Cited: Allinson v General Council of Medical Education and Registration [1894] 1QB750 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Council of Bar Association of NSW (Applicant) Ebenezer Eyeson-Annan (Respondent) Representation: Counsel M Johnston (Applicant) Hicksons Lawyers (Applicant) J Annan (Respondent in person) File Number(s): 102013,102023

reasons for decision 1These two matters by direction of the Tribunal were heard together. In the earlier (102013) the Council of the Bar Association (the Council) in its Amended Application sought a finding that John Annan (Mr Annan) has engaged in professional misconduct and the making of consequential orders. 2The grounds of the application are not without complication. Mr Annan a practising barrister was also prior to 12 November 2007 a registered Migration Agent. On that date he was disqualified by the Migration Agents Review Authority (MARA) from acting as a Migration Agent for 2 years and until it was satisfied that he had complied with certain conditions. The misconduct relied upon by the Council was allegedly committed both before and after 7 November 2007 and involves the falsification of documents provided to MARA and the giving of false information to it. 3The later application 102023 alleges that between November 2007 and January 2008 Mr Annan practised as a Migration Agent whilst disqualified from doing so, falsely represented himself to a client as a Migration Agent without disclosing his disqualification gave false advice to that client in relation to a pending hearing before the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) and gave false evidence to the Federal Magistrates Court as the Federal Circuit Court was then known.. 4By a formal Reply in each matter Mr Annan denied any wrong doing. In the later proceedings he also alleged that he had been denied natural justice by the Council in that he had not been afforded the right to make submissions in accordance with S 591 of the Legal Profession Act 2004. 5It is necessary that we refer to the facts in some detail. Before doing so we should mention that Mr Annan appeared for himself at the hearing of the proceedings. Mr M Johnston of counsel appeared for the Council. 6It appears that on 17 October 2006 MARA exercised its powers under S308 of the Migration Act and by notice required Mr Annan to produce a number of documents. The notice itself is not in evidence but MARA's letter of 8 February 2007 effectively restates the operative provisions of the notice whilst reviewing Mr Annan's response. The letter omitting formal parts statutory and regulatory references is in these terms: 4 Attached to the letter was a schedule containing some 29 items "Schedule 1 - Transactions from Client's Account." Mr Annan replied to the letter on 7 May 2007: RE: 9474560-3626 "I refer to the above matter and wish to thank you for your patience in granting me time to recover from my illness before responding to your letter dated 8 February 2007. Please find enclosed the following documents:- -. Records for transactions listed in Schedule 1 of your letter. - An amended version of my standard contract. - Evidence of name of account which includes the words "Clients' Accounts". - Change of wording in standard contract which indicates that, by signing the contract, the client acknowledges receipt of the 1RMAP. Thank you. 7Accompanying that letter were 24 documents purportedly issued by Mr Annan. each of which was titled Tax Invoice/Receipt. These documents on their face related to many but not all of the entries in the Schedule referred to above. Four of those documents are relevant to these proceedings viz. John Eyeson Annan BA (Hons) LLB Barrister-at-Law Registered Migration Agent No. 9474560 ABN: 64 410 637 804 NSW Office Address Suite 1, Level 8, 377 Sussex St. Sydney NSW 2000 NSW Postal Address PO Box K822 Haymarket Sydney NSW 1240 Tel: 02 9264 3933 Fax: 02 9264 8033 Mobile: 0419 64 49 60 Email: eyesonj@tpg.com.au Tax Invoice/Receipt INVOICE NO:004571 DATE: 05/12/2006 Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation Mr Eduardo Santos 18B Rosal St, Merville Sub Naxoto Metro Manila Philippines