Judgment has been handed down on 5th August 2019 by the Administrative Court, following an application for judicial review on behalf of a doctor of the determination of the Medical Practitioner's Tribunal that in principle it had the power to draw an adverse inference from the fact that a doctor against whom charges are made does not give evidence, ie remain silent.
A Divisional Court of Lord Justice Higginbottom and Mr Justice Butcher held that an Medical Practitioner's Tribunal panel had the power to draw an adverse inference from the failure of a charged person to give evidence at all or in relation to a particular issue/question without any express guidance on how that power should be exercised.
In its judgment, the Divisional Court did not identify the actual power for the GMC to draw adverse inferences beyond the right to self-regulate.
Leading Counsel Mary O'Rourke QC and Sunil Abeyewickreme, Partner at Gunnercooke LLP represented the doctor.
