Practicing law with a criminal record (1 Viewer)

[sarevok]

If I were, hypothetically, to have been convicted of an offence, would this is in any way affect my ability to attain professional accreditation and practice law?

 

[El Misterio]

The conviction might preclude you being admitted, which would mean that you'd be unable to practice. How likely that is depends on the nature of the offence for which you were convicted.

 

[melsc]

I think summary offences are ok but not indictable

 

[hfis]

The 'good fame and character' test focuses mainly upon the honesty of the applicant and their suitability to enter into a privileged relationship with clients.

Offences that are driven by dishonesty (for example fraud and theft) will count heavily against you, and there is a strong onus on the applicant to demonstrate that there has been sufficient rehabilitation and acknowledgement that the behaviour was wrong. Mitigating factors such as the persons age at the time of conviction and extrinsic circumstances are also taken into account.

Summary offences removed from dishonesty such as posession and common assault are usually not sufficient in themselves (dependent on the circumstances) to have a practitioner struck off, and so I would assume that similar offences would not kill all your chances of getting admitted in the first place. However, if the conviction occured within a short period of your application, it will likely count against you - particularly if you exhibited a total disregard for the authority of the law, or have not demonstrated any kind of rehabilitation.

Indictable offences such as murder and sexual assault are pretty much a guaranteed no.

Charges that did not lead to convictions (i.e. acquittals) are investigated by the admitting authority on their circumstances. There has been an acknowledgement - though I forget the exact case - that whilst some people have been found innocent, the circumstances of the case might reveal the applicant's unsuitability for practice. An example of this would be a man convicted of murder lying to the Police during the investigation in order to protect his wife - dishonesty, particularly when directed at the law, will kill any chance you previously had at being admitted. Of course, a substantial period of time/demonstrated rehabilitation can often defeat this.

In light of the above, it is vital that you lean on the side of 'excessive disclosure' when applying for admission (or so the textbooks say). If you are found to have not disclosed any prior convictions, charges, or mental health problems that effect you significantly, it will be seen as dishonesty and is prima facie enough for your application to be denied.

 

[mr_brightside]

If I were, hypothetically, to have been convicted of an offence, would this is in any way affect my ability to attain professional accreditation and practice law?

what were you, hypothetically convicted of?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

haha


howabout things like train fines, can they come back to bite you in any way? i have some train fiens that are unpaid at the moment cause im still waiting for my court summons (its been 13 months since i postponed it and they havent contacted me since to arrange a later date). could this count against me at all? i dont wanna have some massive charge with interest in a few years or something

thanks

Train fines are extremely minor.

Messing around with the court however, is very unwise.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

i havent messed around with the court

they gave me a court summons notice and it had an option to postpone it if i was unavailable to attend on that date, which i did, and that was 13 months ago and im yet to hear back

i dont really see how thats messing around with the court or doing anything wrong?

Well not every wrong involves a positive act. You can do the wrong thing by omission - eg. not chasing it up when you know you should.

Regardless, it is probably to your own detriment if you don't follow it up because the fine is very likely still on the record. You'll have to pay it someday. Also, I'm not trying to scare you (it's a minor infringment) but if you ever got into some other court trouble with fines and they saw you had an unpaid fine already, they would bring it up. In such a situation the court would not look upon you favourably.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

well thanks for your advice

i chased it up then just got off the phone from the court

i was dismissed with a caution haha

love appealing

Nice