Rejected Defences in Professional Disciplinary Proceedings

1. The rejection by a tribunal of a practitioner’s defence to allegations faced in professional disciplinary and regulatory proceedings, and the relevance of the practitioner having run such a failed defence to the tribunal’s determination of the issues of impairment and sanction, have been the subject of some controversy in numerous statutory appeals in recent years. The judgment of Mrs Justice Collins Rice in Sawati v General Medical Council has, however, provided some helpful clarity for regulators and practitioners alike as to how and when such failed defences can properly be taken into account in determining these issues.