Lim Mey Lee Susan v Singapore Medical Council: Disciplinary Proceedings & Bias

Dr. Lim Mey Lee Susan appealed the High Court's decision to dismiss her application for a quashing order and a prohibiting order against the Singapore Medical Council (SMC). The appeal concerned the SMC's appointment of a second Disciplinary Committee to hear disciplinary charges against Dr. Lim for overcharging a patient. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the SMC had the power to appoint the Second DC and that there was no apparent bias.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal

1.2 Outcome

Appeal dismissed with costs and the usual consequential orders.

1.3 Case Type

Regulatory

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Lim for overcharging. The court addressed the legality of appointing a second Disciplinary Committee and allegations of bias.

1.7 Decision Date

29 November 2011

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Singapore Medical Council	Respondent	Statutory Board	Appeal Upheld	Won	Lim Wei Lee of WongPartnership LLP Alvin Yeo of WongPartnership LLP Melanie Ho of WongPartnership LLP Sim Mei Ling of WongPartnership LLP Jolyn de Roza of WongPartnership LLP Alvis Liu of WongPartnership LLP
LIM MEY LEE SUSAN	Appellant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Lee Eng Beng of Rajah & Tann LLP Sim Kwan Kiat of Rajah & Tann LLP Wilson Zhu of Rajah & Tann LLP Elizabeth Wu of Rajah & Tann LLP Christine Huang of Rajah & Tann LLP Tammy Low Wan Jun of Rajah & Tann LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Chan Sek Keong	Chief Justice	Yes
Andrew Phang Boon Leong	Justice of the Court of Appeal	No
V K Rajah	Justice of the Court of Appeal	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Lim Wei Lee	WongPartnership LLP
Alvin Yeo	WongPartnership LLP
Melanie Ho	WongPartnership LLP
Sim Mei Ling	WongPartnership LLP
Jolyn de Roza	WongPartnership LLP
Alvis Liu	WongPartnership LLP
Lee Eng Beng	Rajah & Tann LLP
Sim Kwan Kiat	Rajah & Tann LLP
Wilson Zhu	Rajah & Tann LLP
Elizabeth Wu	Rajah & Tann LLP
Christine Huang	Rajah & Tann LLP
Tammy Low Wan Jun	Rajah & Tann LLP

4. Facts

The Ministry of Health, Brunei, complained about Dr. Lim's fees for treating a member of the royal family.
The SMC appointed a First Disciplinary Committee to investigate the complaint.
A member of the First Disciplinary Committee died, leading to a replacement appointment.
The First Disciplinary Committee recused itself after Dr. Lim alleged prejudgment.
The SMC revoked the appointment of the First Disciplinary Committee and appointed a Second Disciplinary Committee.
Dr. Lim sought a quashing order and a prohibiting order against the SMC's decision.
The High Court dismissed Dr. Lim's application.

5. Formal Citations

Lim Mey Lee Susan v Singapore Medical Council, Civil Appeal No 80 of 2011, [2011] SGCA 66
Lim Mey Lee Susan v Singapore Medical Council, , [2011] 4 SLR 156

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2007-07-18	Ministry of Health, Brunei officials met with Prof Kandiah Satkunanantham regarding Dr. Lim's fees.
2007-08-27	Permanent Secretary of MOHB sent a letter to the Permanent Secretary of MOHS complaining about Dr. Lim's fees.
2007-12-03	MOHS referred the complaint to the chairman of the SMC's Complaints Panel.
2007-12-18	The Complaints Committee sent a letter to Dr. Lim inviting her to furnish a written explanation.
2008-02-04	Dr. Lim provided a letter of explanation.
2008-11-17	The Complaints Committee ordered that a formal inquiry be held by a Disciplinary Committee.
2010-01-28	First tranche of the hearing before the First Disciplinary Committee took place.
2010-02-09	First tranche of the hearing before the First Disciplinary Committee took place.
2010-05-28	Dr. Wong Yue Sie, a member of the First Disciplinary Committee, died.
2010-07-09	Assoc Prof Anette Jacobsen was appointed to fill the vacancy in the First Disciplinary Committee.
2010-07-29	Reconvened hearing; Dr. Lim's counsel applied for the First Disciplinary Committee to recuse itself.
2010-09-03	SMC sent an email seeking approval to revoke the appointment of the First Disciplinary Committee.
2010-09-13	SMC sent an email seeking approval for the appointment of the Second Disciplinary Committee.
2010-09-16	SMC informed Dr. Lim's solicitors of the appointment of the Second Disciplinary Committee.
2010-09-22	SMC's solicitors informed Dr. Lim that the Second Disciplinary Committee had been appointed.
2010-12-17	Dr. Lim filed OS 1252/2010 for leave to apply for a quashing order and a prohibiting order.
2011-11-30	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Apparent Bias
- Outcome: The court found no reasonable apprehension of bias on the SMC's part in appointing the Second Disciplinary Committee.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Conflict of interest
  - Prejudgment
  - Failure to inquire into procedural defects
Legality of Appointing a Second Disciplinary Committee
- Outcome: The court held that the SMC had the power under the Medical Registration Act to appoint the Second Disciplinary Committee after revoking the appointment of the First Disciplinary Committee.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Compliance with Medical Registration Act
  - Interpretation of 'immediately' in s 41(3) of the MRA
  - Validity of decision-making process via email
Overcharging as Professional Misconduct
- Outcome: The court stated that whether overcharging amounts to professional misconduct is a matter for the relevant professional body to decide.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Fee agreements
  - Reasonable charges
  - Dishonest billing
- Related Cases:
  - [2011] SGHC 224

8. Remedies Sought

Quashing Order
Prohibiting Order
Declaration that the Medical Registration (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S 528/2010) were null and void

9. Cause of Actions

Judicial Review

10. Practice Areas

Disciplinary Proceedings
Judicial Review

11. Industries

Healthcare

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Lim Mey Lee Susan v Singapore Medical Council	High Court	Yes	[2011] 4 SLR 156	Singapore	The decision from which this appeal arose.
Associated Provincial Picture Houses, Limited v Wednesbury Corporation	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1948] 1 KB 223	England and Wales	Cited for the principles of unreasonableness in judicial review.
Regina v Soneji and another	House of Lords	Yes	[2006] 1 AC 340	United Kingdom	Cited for the approach to determining Parliament's intention regarding mandatory statutory requirements.
Chai Chwan v Singapore Medical Council	High Court	Yes	[2009] SGHC 115	Singapore	Cited in relation to the directory effect of the immediacy requirement in section 41(3) of the Medical Registration Act.
Law Society of Singapore v Andre Ravindran Saravanapavan Arul	High Court	Yes	[2011] SGHC 224	Singapore	Cited for the legal nature of overcharging by an advocate and solicitor for professional services.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 4(1)(a)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 12(5)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 38	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 39	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 39(1)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 39(1)(a)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 39(5)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 39(7)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 40(1)(a)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 40(11)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 41	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 41(1)(b)(ii)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 41(3)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 41(8)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 42	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 42(1)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 42(1)(a)	Singapore
Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2004 Rev Ed) s 42(5)	Singapore
Medical Registration (Amendment) Act 2010 (Act 1 of 2010)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Disciplinary Committee
Singapore Medical Council
Overcharging
Apparent Bias
Recusal
Medical Registration Act
Complaints Committee
Professional Misconduct
Quashing Order
Prohibiting Order

15.2 Keywords

Singapore Medical Council
Disciplinary Proceedings
Medical Negligence
Judicial Review
Apparent Bias
Overcharging

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Medical Law	90
Disciplinary Proceedings	90
Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility	70
Administrative Law	60
Professional Discipline	50
Civil Procedure	30

16. Subjects

Medical Disciplinary Proceedings
Administrative Law
Judicial Review