New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2004 - SECT 511

511 Summary dismissal of complaints

(1) The Commissioner, or the Council by which a complaint is made or to which a complaint is referred for investigation, may dismiss a complaint if:

(a) further information is not given, or the complaint or further information is not verified, as required by the Commissioner or Council under section 507 (Further information and verification), or

(b) the complaint is vexatious, misconceived, frivolous or lacking in substance, or

(c) the complaint was made more than 3 years after the conduct complained of is alleged to have occurred, unless a determination is made under section 506 (Complaints made over 3 years after conduct concerned) in relation to the complaint, or

(d) the conduct complained about has been the subject of a previous complaint that has been dismissed, or

(e) the conduct complained about is the subject of another complaint, or

(f) it is not in the public interest to deal with the complaint having regard to the fact that the name of the Australian legal practitioner to whom the complaint relates has already been removed from any Australian roll in which he or she was enrolled, or

(g) the Commissioner or Council is satisfied that it is otherwise in the public interest to dismiss the complaint, or

(h) the complaint is not one that the Commissioner or Council has power to deal with.

(2) A complaint may be dismissed under this section without any investigation or without completing an investigation.