Tangsilsat v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 144

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Tangsilsat v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 144 Hearing dates: 21 May 2019 Decision date: 19 June 2019 Before: Bell P at [1]; Macfarlan JA at [10]; White JA at [11] Decision: (1) Appeal dismissed. (2) Discharge the order made on 22 October 2018 that further proceedings between the appellant and respondent in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal be stayed. (3) Appellant pay the respondent's costs. Catchwords: LEGAL PRACTITIONERS — Disciplinary proceedings — Appeal against decision of NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal ("NCAT") — Appellant failed to disclose to Law Society her suspension by the Migration Agents Registration Authority ("MARA") from practising as a migration agent — Whether NCAT erred in finding nondisclosure of suspension amounted to professional misconduct within the meaning of s 297 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) — Whether certain statements by member of NCAT during course of hearing sufficient to ground a reasonable apprehension of bias — Whether appellant denied procedural fairness in relation to NCAT's use of the fact of the MARA finding

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – tribunals – proper role of NCAT in hearing professional conduct matters – not appropriate for Tribunal member to express "hope" as to what further investigations Law Society might undertake Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), s 140 Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW), s 497 Legal Profession Act 1987 (NSW), s 127 Legal Practitioners Act (1898) (NSW), ss 41, 42 Cases Cited: A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (2004) 216 CLR 253; [2004] HCA 1 Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336; [1938] HCA 34 Concrete Pty Ltd v Parramatta Design and Developments Pty Ltd (2006) 229 CLR 577; [2006] HCA 55 Council of the Law Society of New South Wales v Parente [2019] NSWCA 33 Council of the Law Society of NSW v Tangsilsat [2018] NSWCATOD 138 In Re Vickery [1931] 1 Ch 572 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Montenegro [2015] NSWCA 409 Prothonotary v Comeskey [2018] NSWCA 18 Re Hodgekiss [1962] SR (NSW) 340 Re Mayes and the Legal Practitioners Act [1974] 1 NSWLR 19 Royal Guardian Mortgage Management Pty Ltd v Nguyen [2016] NSWCA 88; (2016) 332 ALR 128 Smith v New South Wales Bar Association (1992) 176 CLR 256; [1992] HCA 36 The Council Of The Law Society Of New South Wales v Graham [2005] NSWCA 127 Toth v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2017] NSWCA 344 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Jaruwan Tangsilsat (Appellant) Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Second Respondent) Representation: Counsel: Self-represented (Appellant) T L Wong with S Jeliba (Second Respondent) File Number(s): 2018/284331 Decision under appeal Court or tribunal: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Citation: [2018] NSWCATOD 138 Date of Decision: 20 August 2018 Before: M Schyvens, Deputy PresidentThe Hon F Marks, Principal MemberE Hayes, General Member File Number(s): 2018/00072556