The Supreme Court of Tasmania has inherent supervisory jurisdiction to stay proceedings in the Medical Council of Tasmania on abuse of process grounds, derived from its general supervisory power over inferior tribunals. A medical practitioner seeking a permanent stay of disciplinary proceedings on the basis of delay must discharge a heavy burden of showing that continuation would involve such injustice, unfairness or oppression as to constitute an abuse of process; the loss of some records and death of some potential witnesses over a period of nearly twenty years is insufficient where the practitioner retains independent recollection and has not established that no other evidence is available.
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