Queensland Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2007 - SECT 432

432 Summary dismissal of complaints

(1) The commissioner may dismiss a complaint for 1 or more of the following reasons—

(a) the commissioner has given the complainant a notice under section 431 and, within the time stated in the notice or under an extension under that section, the complainant has not complied with the notice;

(b) the complaint does not disclose conduct that the commissioner considers may be—

(i) conduct to which this chapter applies; or

(ii) unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct of an Australian legal practitioner or misconduct of a law practice employee in relation to the relevant practice;

(c) the commissioner considers the complaint is vexatious, misconceived, frivolous or lacking in substance;

(d) the conduct complained about has been the subject of a previous complaint that has been dismissed or dealt with, and the commissioner considers that the complaint discloses no reason to reconsider the matter;

(e) 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.

(2) The commissioner may dismiss a complaint under this section without completing an investigation if, having considered the complaint, the commissioner forms the view that the complaint requires no further investigation.

(3) If a complaint is dismissed for the reason mentioned in subsection (1) (a) , the dismissal does not prevent the complainant from making a fresh complaint under section 429 .

(4) In this section—

"complaint" does not include a complaint about the conduct of an unlawful operator.

"previous complaint" includes—

(a) a complaint under the Queensland Law Society Act 1952 or the Legal Profession Act 2004 , if the complaint was made under that Act before the commencement of this section; and

(b) a complaint made to the bar association if the complaint was made before 1 July 2004.