Tribunal right to silence is 'discretionary'

摘要

A longstanding belief that doctors could safely remain silent at medical practitioners tribunal hearings and that the panel would not draw negative conclusions has been overturned by the High Court. The court has ruled that there is no "right to silence" at tribunals and that panels are free to draw "adverse inferences" from the fact that a doctor declines to give evidence. Barrister Christopher Geering, writing on 2 Hare Court chambers' website, described it as "a dramatic new development." Solicitors Claire Raftery and Chris Dunn of the law firm Clyde & Co wrote in a blog, "This will have immediate implications for professionals appearing before their regulators."