The Legal Services Commissioner's power to dismiss a complaint under s 448(1)(a)(i) of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) requires the formation of an opinion that there is no reasonable likelihood of a finding of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. The Commissioner cannot impose pre-conditions on the exercise of that function that are not required by the statute, such as requiring a prior court determination of a factual matter or confining the inquiry to the practitioner's knowledge at a single point in time. Where the Commissioner limits the statutory function by reference to such pre-conditions, the requisite opinion is not formed and jurisdictional error is committed.
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