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A former solicitor who has relentlessly pursued the ACT Law Society over dismissed racial discrimination allegations has attempted to air further sensational claims in an appeal, including an accusation there was a “clear intent to kill or suppress” him for life.
In his notice of appeal filed with the Federal Court, Emmanuel Tan Ezekiel-Hart claimed a decision to place a sequestration order over his estate was a miscarriage of justice because it allowed the Law Society to allegedly “lie and mislead courts and tribunals”.
The former solicitor added that the lies were for “personal gain, including fabrication of documents to oppress and mislead with clear intent to kill or suppress [him] for life, having maintained oppressive conduct of failing to honour their undertaking to the court”. It is unclear what, if any, undertaking Ezekiel-Hart was referring to.
This ground of appeal, along with three others, was struck from the notice by Justice Nye Perram on Wednesday, 12 March.
Ezekiel-Hart’s four grounds did not “articulate any comprehensible grounds of appeal” and failed to comply with the requirement of Federal Court Rules 2011 that the notice of appeal “state briefly but specifically the grounds relied on in support of the appeal”.
Justice Perram also removed a prayer for the Law Society to pay Ezekiel-Hart for “loss of income” occasioned by their lies and another to have them declared a vexatious litigant for “Black lawyer hunting” when he “would not have been believed as a Blackman”.
The judge said they had “no place in a notice of appeal”.
Ezekiel-Hart has filed at least 37 proceedings against the ACT Law Society since 2009, most of which included “multiple, serious and florid claims” relating to racial discrimination, defamation, abuse of power, fraud, and alleged breaches of his human rights”.
He has also alleged the Law Society did not grant him a practising certificate because of his race and further claimed white lawyers found guilty of crimes were granted certificates “without delay”.
In an interlocutory application before Justice Perram, Ezekiel-Hart sought a stay of the sequestration pending the outcome on appeal.
However, Justice Perram said he was “unpersuaded” with Ezekiel-Hart’s submissions and found he had “low prospects of success”.
In order for Ezekiel-Hart to continue with his appeal, Justice Perram ordered that he pay $20,000 in security of costs to the court.
“First, my impression is that the appeal has little merit.
“Secondly, there is no evidence that the effect of ordering security for costs would be to stifle the appeal. In that circumstance, it is appropriate that security should be ordered,” Justice Perram said.
Last October, Justice Melissa Perry also ordered Ezekiel-Hart to pay a security order of $20,000 before he could pursue an appeal of a bankruptcy order. In that decision, Justice Perry also observed Ezekiel-Hart’s prospects of success on appeal as “low”.
The case is Ezekiel-Hart v Council of the Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory, in the matter of Bankrupt Estate of Ezekiel-Hart [2025] FCA 181.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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