Res judicata

Regina (Coke-Wallis) v Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [2011] UKSC 1; [2011] WLR (D) 3; TLR 31 January

The claimant was a chartered accountant against whom the Institute had preferred a complaint alleging that he had committed an act likely to bring discredit on himself, the Institute or the profession of accountancy, contrary to by-law 4(1)(a) and that he had been convicted of failing to comply with the direction of the Jersey Financial Services Commission that he should not remove from the companies’ offices any records or files in respect of certain trust companies of which he was a director and shareholder. The complaint was dismissed by a disciplinary committee on the basis that the offence for which he was convicted did not correspond to one which was indictable in England and Wales and, therefore, it could not, under by-law 7, be conclusive evidence of the commission by him of an act within by-law 4(1)(a). The institute then preferred a second complaint alleging that the claimant had committed an act contrary to by-law 4(1)(a) and that he had attempted to remove from Jersey books and records in contravention of the commission’s direction. The High Court judge and the Court of Appeal dismissed the claimant’s appeal against the rejection of his application that the second complaint should be dismissed and he appealed to the Supreme Court.