A criminal acquittal does not bar disciplinary proceedings arising from the same facts because the difference in onus of proof means the issues are not the same. The purpose of disciplinary proceedings is entirely protective, not punitive, and factors such as stress on the practitioner and cost of proceedings are irrelevant to the determination of appropriate protective orders. Where a medical practitioner has engaged in sexual misconduct towards patients across multiple practices over a period of years, the passage of time is an aggravating factor demonstrating propensity to re-offend, not a mitigating factor. The gravity of professional misconduct is measured by departure from proper standards, not by comparison with the worst cases before the Tribunal. Richter v Walton is overruled: where conditions such as a chaperone requirement demonstrate a practitioner cannot be trusted to observe proper standards, the only appropriate order is removal from the Register.
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