The High Court rejects the lawyers’ request to erase his suspension from his file

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A lawyer who accused a judge of being racist and another of corruption was almost barred from practicing law in Florida because he was temporarily banned from practicing in New Zealand – now he just wants justice be rendered.

In a bid to have his suspension cleared from his record, Francisc Deliu, who goes by the name Frank Deliu, filed an application with the High Court for judicial review of the earlier decision of the Barristers and Conveyors Disciplinary Tribunals.

But in a ruling this week, Judge Mary Peters denied the request and ruled that Deliu was seeking to misuse or abuse the legal process.

Today Deliu told the Herald the decision was not the end of the road for him and he intended to appeal.

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Deliu was suspended from practicing law for 15 months and ordered to pay $260,000 in costs in 2016 after the Attorneys and Carriers Disciplinary Court found him guilty of a series of misconduct charges.

The court found that Deliu made a series of baseless allegations about Judge Rhys Harrison.

He accused the judge in various ways of violating his judicial oath, being out of control, repeatedly abusing his powers, being biased, discriminatory, acting in bad faith, maliciously, wickedness and being racist, according to the court’s earlier ruling.

But Deliu said he intended to appeal the High Court’s decision. Photo/Janna Dixon.

The court said Deliu also made unsubstantiated charges against Judge Anthony Randerson, including that he attempted to pervert the course of justice, used his judicial office in a gross misuse of taxpayers’ money for a improper motive, breach of his judicial oath and judicial corruption. .

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However, not happy with the decision, Deliu turned to the High Court in 2017 where he called the court a kangaroo court and sought a judicial review of his decision.

He asked for the decision to be set aside and for an order preventing the court from reviewing the charges against him. But the High Court dismissed the appeal.

Following his relocation to the United States, Deliu in 2021 filed another application with the High Court for judicial review.

He requested the review because he wanted to practice law in Florida, but the US state bar association would not admit anyone who had been suspended from legal practice at any point in their career.

Deliu advanced the request for two reasons, including the fact that one of the members of the Disciplinary Tribunal for Lawyers and Conveyors had recused himself from the proceedings before publishing a minute on his case.

The other reason was that most of the remaining members had not been officially appointed, Deliu said, adding that this meant their decision was not legally binding.

After hearing the claim, Judge Peters said in her recent decision that Deliu should have raised these issues in 2016 when he was in court.

She rejected Delius’ claim that the Law Society opposed her request for access to relevant documents.

I am satisfied that this is a case in which the plaintiff could and should have pursued the matters on which he now relies in the 2016 proceedings.

Frank Deliu and his McLaren supercar outside his North Shore home in June 2017. Photo/Supplied

The judge concluded that the members of the tribunal had been appointed legally, so their decision to suspend him was also legal.

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All of these issues lead me to conclude that it is not in the interests of justice for this matter to proceed, and that the plaintiff seeks to abuse or misuse the Court’s process, she said. , dismissing the application for judicial review.

The next shot

Deliu intends to appeal Judge Peters’ decision.

He began the process to have his suspension cleared so he could be admitted to the Florida bar, but had since been granted an exemption from his bar association. He was currently undergoing character checks, he told the Herald.

An appeal against the decision was now a matter of justice, he said.

If lawyers can’t get justice for themselves, why would a client trust them to get justice for them?

Deliu made headlines around the world last year when he sued his 12-year-old son in middle school in Florida for displaying LGBTQ+ pride flags in the classroom.

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His case was struck out by the court, but he told the Herald he also intended to appeal that decision.

Also last year, he successfully overturned a New Zealand High Court ruling after he was fined for placing his wife and son in the same front passenger seat of his McLaren sports car in Auckland .

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