The High Court in Suva has struck out Suva lawyer Shazran Lateef’s appeal against the suspension of his practising certificate.
Mr Lateef had instituted proceedings seeking various orders and declarations against the Registrar, including an order setting aside the Registrar’s decision refusing to lift the cancellation of his practising certificate.
Mr Lateef was a legal practitioner and the principal of Lateef and Lateef Lawyers.
In 2019, he was issued a practising certificate by the Legal Practitioners Unit, valid from February 4, 2019, to February 29, 2020. However, the Registrar cancelled the certificate on April 2, 2019, while Mr Lateef was on remand facing criminal charges.
In January 2020, Mr Lateef wrote to the Registrar seeking the removal of what he described as a “suspension” of his practising certificate, arguing that there was no valid practising certificate at the time to suspend. He again wrote in October 2020, requesting that the “suspension” be lifted pending the determination of the criminal charges against him.
On February 4, 2021, Mr Lateef wrote once more seeking an urgent response to his earlier correspondence. A few days later, the Registrar replied, advising that reconsideration of his ability to practise was ongoing.
In March 2021, Mr Lateef was issued a show cause notice in relation to six criminal charges pending trial, requiring a response within 21 days.
However, the court heard Mr Lateef had failed to respond within the stipulated timeframe or thereafter. While he produced an unsigned draft response and claimed that he had replied, the Registrar denied receiving any such response.
In hisruling, Justice Deepthi Amaratunga found the application to be superfluous, stating that Mr Lateef ought to have applied for a renewal of his practising certificate after it expired in 2020, but failed to do so.
“Accordingly, all the appeal grounds are without merit, and appellant’s originating motion is struck off,” ruled Justice Amaratunga on December 1.
Justice Amaratunga did not impose any costs.
