Key Facts
- •Trainee GPs must pass three RCGP assessment tests to qualify.
- •RCGP policy limited attempts to four per test, even with late disability diagnoses.
- •Dr Karmakar, after a late diagnosis, sought to void prior failed attempts.
- •BMA challenged the policy's lawfulness.
- •Both claims argued unlawful fettering of discretion, irrationality, and Equality Act breaches.
Legal Principles
Academic judgment vs. justiciability
R (Gopikrishna) v The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education [2015] EWHC 207 (Admin)
Delay in judicial review applications (CPR r54.5, SCA s31(6))
CPR r54.5, Supreme Court Act 1981 s31(6), R v CICB, ex p A [1999] 2 AC 330
Appropriate remedy: judicial review vs. Employment Tribunal
Equality Act 2010 ss 53, 120(1)(a), 113; R (on the application of MM) v Secretary of State for Work and Pension [2012] EWHC 2106 (Admin)
Fettering of discretion
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p. Venables [1998] AC 407; British Oxygen Co Ltd v Minister of Technology [1971] AC 610; R (West Berkshire District Council) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2016] 1 WLR 3923; R (Lumba) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] 1 AC 245; R (Singh) v Cardiff City Council [2012] EWHC 1852 (Admin); Adath Yisroel Burial Society v HM Senior Coroner for Inner North London [2018] EWHC 969 (Admin); R (Sandiford) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2014] UKSC 44; R (Elias) v Secretary of State for Defence [2006] EWCA Civ 1293
Rationality review
R (GNER) v Office of the Rail Regulator [2006] EWHC 1942 (Admin); R (Sandiford) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2014] UKSC 44
Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
Equality Act 2010 s. 149; R (Bracking) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] EWCA Civ 1345; Hotak v London Borough of Southwark [2016] AC 811; McDonald v Kensington and Chelsea Royal London Borough Council [2011] UKSC 33
Duty to make reasonable adjustments (Equality Act 2010)
Equality Act 2010 s.53(6), s.20, Schedule 8; Ishola v Transport for London [2020] EWCA Civ 112
Indirect discrimination (Equality Act 2010)
Equality Act 2010 s.19
Outcomes
BMA's claim dismissed for delay.
Claim was brought too late; the BMA had knowledge of the policy for years and failed to act promptly.
Dr Karmakar's claim succeeds.
RCGP's policy of not considering additional attempts for late disability diagnoses was irrational. The decision against Dr Karmakar was quashed.
PSED, reasonable adjustments, and indirect discrimination claims dismissed.
The court found no breach of the PSED, and the claims related to reasonable adjustments and indirect discrimination failed on procedural grounds.