The appeal by a doctor from the disciplinary committee of the GMC to the board of the Privy Council lies of right by the statute and the terms of statute do not limit or qualify the appeal in any way, so that the appellant is entitled to claim that it is in a general sense nothing less than a re-hearing of his case and a review of the decision. Beyond a bare statement of its findings of fact, the Disciplinary Committee does not in general give reasons for its decision as in the case of a trial in the High Court by judge alone from which an appeal by way of re-hearing lies to the Court of Appeal.
The role of such a legal assessor to the committee is restricted to advising on questions of law, and he plays no part in the decision-making process. Lord Radcliffe said: ‘There is no judge to conduct the proceedings, to direct the jury on matters of law or to sum up for them on issues of fact. Although the Disciplinary Committee has the assistance of a legal assessor at its hearing, as required by the Act, it is the President of the court and not he who is in charge of the proceedings, and his duties are confined to advising on questions of law referred to him, and to interventions for the purpose either of informing the committee of any irregularity in the conduct of their proceedings which comes to his knowledge, or of advising them when it appears to him that, but for such advice, there is a possibility of a mistake of law being made.’
Judges:
Lord Radcliffe
Citations:
[1960] 3 All ER 225, [1960] UKPC 21, [1960] 1 WLR 1017
Links:
Statutes:
Cited by:
Cited – Libman v The General Medical Council PC 20-Oct-1971
PC (General Medical Council) The appellant a consultant physician appealed against a finding of serious professional misconduct. He had had sexual relations with a patient, and offered to pay a sum for her . .
Cited – Sivarajah v General Medical Council PC 1964
The board considered the duty of the legal advisor to the disciplinary committee of the General Medical Council: ‘The legal assessor is, however, in no sense in the position of a judge summing up to a jury, nor is the committee’s function analogous . .
Cited – Nwabueze v General Medical Council PC 6-Apr-2000
Deliberations of the professional conduct committee hearing a case of professional conduct were in the presence of an assessor who gave advice to the committee. After returning from deliberation the assessor described the advice given, and the . .
Cited – The British Medical Association, Regina (on the Application of) v The General Medical Council and Another Admn 4-May-2016
The BMA sought to challenge the validity of the rules governing the procedure of Fitness to Practice panels. In particular the BMA challenged the new absence of a requirement that the panel’s legal advice and assistance be available to the parties. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Health Professions
Updated: 06 July 2022; Ref: scu.242400