Professional Regulatory and Disciplinary Law Mason Hayes Curran

We are a national leader in the field of professional regulatory and disciplinary law. Our team has extensive experience and knowledge, and acts in numerous professional regulatory sectors, including medical and nursing, health and social care, financial and accounting, banking, legal, and policing. We advise on a wide variety of regulatory and disciplinary issues, ranging from constitutional and strategic issues, to highly-sensitive fitness to practise and other disciplinary inquiries and investigations.

Our professional regulatory team provides expert advice and representation in relation to all types of inquiries, court applications, appeals and judicial review proceedings. We also conduct our own advocacy before professional regulatory tribunals and the High Court. Our highly-experienced professional regulatory lawyers are leaders in their field, and work closely with clients to ensure the provision of focused and high-quality, clear, consistent and timely legal advice.

Services

We advise and represent clients in relation to the following issues:

• Fitness to Practise and Misconduct Inquiries & Investigations

We work with Ireland’s leading professional regulators to conduct investigations and inquiries regarding allegations against professionals, ranging from professional misconduct and poor professional performance to health-related matters. We assist our clients in preparing for a wide range of complex investigations, as well as presenting cases, including ones with multiple registrants, allegations spanning several years, and ones dealing with sensitive and vulnerable witnesses.

• Court Applications, Appeals and Judicial Review

We provide advice and representation to our clients in relation to court applications, as well as appeals, judicial review, and other proceedings in the Superior Courts. Our lawyers regularly conduct their own advocacy in High Court proceedings, both to confirm decisions of regulatory bodies, and in other matters.

• Statutory Framework, Drafting and Governance

On behalf of our professional regulatory and disciplinary clients, we have drafted a range of key documents concerning professional standards and training, as well as disciplinary codes and documents relating to investigations and inquiry hearings. Examples include drafting the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority’s application form and accompanying guidance notes for the accreditation of liquidators; the statutory instrument setting the requirements for professional indemnity cover for liquidators; the disciplinary procedures for members of the Stock Exchange; and guidance notes for other tribunals for the conduct of inquiries, and on what constitutes misconduct.

Our Clients Include:

Medical Council
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority
Irish Stock Exchange
Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission

Recent Work

Advising the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland in relation to numerous fitness to practise inquiries concerning a wide range of complaints, including the financial abuse of nursing home residents by nurses, physical abuse of residents, inappropriate contact with patients on social media, and numerous complaints in relation to medication mismanagement. Our team have recently brought several successful High Court applications in which a number of registered nurses found guilty of professional misconduct as a result of financial abuse of patients had their registrations cancelled from the register of nurses.

Advising the Medical Council in relation to numerous inquiries into general practitioners’ fitness to practise. Our team has dealt with a wide range of complaints against general practitioners, ranging from failure to comply with conditions attached to their registration, failure to report notifiable diseases, and alleged unfitness to practise as a result of medical disability.

Advising the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to procedural and jurisdictional matters on an ongoing basis, including the conduct of disciplinary inquiries in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rules and the Solicitors Acts, and representing the Tribunal in respect of numerous sets of judicial review, and other, proceedings brought against it. We also regularly represent the Tribunal as solicitor-advocates before the High Court, both in substantive proceedings, and in seeking orders for substituted service in disciplinary proceedings. We regularly draft relevant court papers and submissions, and have advised the Tribunal on successfully navigating both statutory and non-statutory information-access requests.