Professional Discipline and Regulation
Case Studies Filter

- Acted for the General Medical Council (GMC) in the appeal of Dr James Swanney v General Medical Council 2008 SLT 646. The court was for the first time dealing with the question of whether conduct which took place outside the UK could form proceedings before the UK disciplinary body. The GMC was successful. The court’s judgement set down principles which could have an impact on a range of professional disciplinary and regulatory bodies. This included: (i) not being registered with the GMC at the material time of the conduct was not a bar to GMC proceedings upon subsequent registration; (ii) disciplinary proceedings could be taken in respect of conduct outside of the UK; (iii) disciplinary proceedings having already been taken in another country was not a bar to GMC proceedings in the UK; and (iv) the argument that no harm was occasioned by the conduct would not necessarily prevent a finding of serious professional misconduct. This case is another example of the developing Scottish jurisprudence in professional disciplinary law.

