Wednesday, July 26, 2023

NSW LPAB, Dept Of Justice failed to disclose regulatory problems at Top Group's Sydney City School Of Law for over 3 years, misleading NSW Parliament and the public - NSW LPAB, Dept Of Justice College Of Law cover-up suggests that non-disclosure was intentional

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 


Readers will recall that the Sydney City School Of Law, accredited by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, suspended enrolment of new students in 2019 , just after being re-accredited by the NSW LPAB.
The suspension was lifted early this year.

NSW LPAB did not disclose that fact in its annual reports for the 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 financial years despite the obvious implications of the suspension for the continued operation of the school and the viability of its law degrees as a qualification for  admission into practise in NSW. The NSW LPAB's failure to disclose the fact is even more difficult to comprehend given that it had disclosed in its 2018-2019 annual report that the Sydney City School Of Law's reaccreditation was conditional, even if the details were not disclosed.

The NSW LPAB is part of the Department Of Justice, and its annual reports are tabled in the NSW Parliament by the Attorney General of the day, who at the time was Mark Speakman SC, the current Leader Of The Opposition.Speakman has not taken steps to amend his NSW LPAB and Deprtment Of Justice annual reports. 

The NSW LPAB and Department Of Justice have previously covered up complaints against the College Of Law (see below), and hence there is evidence of a tendency to not disclose  problems at law schools under their purview. That tendency has led to false documents being tabled in Parliament,which have misled Parliament and the public.

Sydney City School Of Law's suspension of enrolments is a matter of public record, advertised on Top Group's website.The NSW LPAB and Department Of Justice's omissions are therefore in the public domain. 


TO BE READ WITH 


 

by Ganesh Sahathevan


                     Pritchard's signature on page 22 of the NSW LPAB Annual Report, 2017-2018

Between January and June 2018 Louise Pritchard, then Executive Officer of the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, was informed by this writer via a number of emails about problems at the College of Law.  Some of these issues were subsequently made public in Malaysia., after the College Of Law  closed its regional office located in Malaysia suddenly and without explanation. 

The complaints against the College were not disclosed in the NSW LPAB Annual Report 2017-2018, despite the NSW LPAB being required to provide information in its annual reports about complaints against institutions like the College Of Law which it oversees and accredits,  ,and despite Pritchard having personal knowledge of the complaints.  

Pritchard was responsible for attesting that the NSW LPAB Annual Reports complied with disclosure and other requirements that concerned the NSW LPAB's operations. Pritchard left the NSW LPAB sometime in 2019, for a position at the Office Of General Counsel, Sydney University.

END 


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