KEY POINTS:
I bet the Law Society wishes it was run along the lines of a private club. Someone non-U, de trop or simply unsuitable applies to join and they're blackballed. No questions asked, no reasons given.
The unsuccessful applicant is delivered the bad news and there is no right of appeal _ no recourse.
They must slink off with their tail between their legs and look for a lesser club that will grant them membership.
Unfortunately for the Law Society, it's not a private gentlemen's club.
The society has to follow guidelines and rules when it comes to supporting applications from lawyers who wish to gain entry to the bar.
If the decision it makes is not to an applicant's liking, then the wannabe lawyer can go straight to the High Court and make an application to practise and the society must front up and give its reasons for opposing the certificate.
The High Court appears to take a far more lenient view than the society when it comes to membership.
The court has overturned several society's decisions to refuse a certificate of character _ in at least one case, when the applicant had criminal convictions.
Personal preference is not allowed to enter into the decision-making process.
So when Clint Rickards applied for a Certificate of Character, the society had to look at the facts.
One, he might have been involved in a public and lurid trial involving historic rape charges, but he and his co-accused were acquitted.
Two, the stories were about conduct that occurred 20 years ago.
And three, since the time of the alleged offences, he had a distinguished career in the police.
What was the Law Society to do? Listen to the court of public opinion and deny him the right to practise law, based on the impression he appears to be an arrogant, bombastic, take-no-prisoners kind of a guy who counts convicted rapists as his good mates?
Toss out his application on the basis he had group sex in his 20s? Ignore the jury's decision and form their own opinion on his guilt or innocence?
A Certificate of Character does not imply that the society thinks the applicant is a jolly good bloke. Nor does a Certificate of Character mean a person is of sound moral rectitude.
It simply means there is no legal reason the person cannot practise law. Still, the public can be the final arbiters.
Once Clint Rickards hangs his shingle outside the door, people can decide whether they want to employ him or not.
And that's when the court of public opinion can deliver its verdict.
