Vaughn O’Neil Bignall vs General Legal Council 2020 CV 01333

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Full Court of the Supreme Court of Jamaica decision on a constitutional and ultra vires challenge by attorney Vaughn O'Neil Bignall (Bignall Law) against the General Legal Council's advertising regulations (Canons) and proceedings taken pursuant to them. The Attorney General was removed as a defendant and designated an Interested Party. The court held that Canons II(d)(ii), II(e), II(k)(i), II(k)(ii) and II(l) were demonstrably justified, constitutional limits and refused the claimant's challenge to them. However, it declared Canons II(h), II(i), II(j) and II(k)(iii) unconstitutional as unjustified limits on freedom of expression and on the right to disseminate information. The GLC's own hearing/decision of 26 September 2018 and the Advertising Committee's February 2019 directive were held to breach the s.16(2) fair-hearing guarantee (hearing by an authority established by law) and to be ultra vires the Legal Profession Act, since disciplinary matters are the remit of the Disciplinary Committee. The claimant's request for an injunction/stay of all disciplinary proceedings was refused; the pending charge alleging breach of Canon II(d)(ii) (the December 2018 Instagram/Audi advertisement) may proceed to the Disciplinary Committee, while charges under Canons II(h) and II(l) were stayed. No order as to costs. No issue of dishonesty arose.

Duties found breached:

• Advise on alternatives, settlement and outcome
• Truthful, non-misleading advertising