Eleven years after Adelaide lawyer Eugene McGee was involved in the hit and run death of cyclist Ian Humphrey, a new system for regulating the behaviour of lawyers has been introduced.

The Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner begins operating today, replacing the much-criticised and painfully slow Legal Practitioners Conduct Board.

The new legal watchdog is, in part, a response to the public outcry over McGee, whose only penalty over Humphrey’s death was a fine and the suspension of his driver’s license. Humphrey’s widow, Di Gilchrist, with support from many in the community, was outraged that McGee was able to continue to practise law.

A spokesperson for Attorney-General John Rau confirmed to InDaily that the new commissioner had the power to review past misconduct allegations against lawyers, including the McGee case.

“That would be a matter for the commissioner, if he was to review that case,” the spokesperson said.

InDaily understands that new penalties in the amended Legal Practitioners Act would apply to cases that arose under the previous system. However, in a possible obstacle to any further action against McGee, the new definition of misconduct could not be applied to historic cases.

In 2011, the Legal Practitioners Conduct Board found McGee was not guilty of “infamous conduct” and ruled he could continue to practise.

The last avenue for disciplining McGee was for the Attorney-General John Rau to refer the lawyer to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal – but he refused to do so on the basis of Crown advice.

However, Rau had identified weaknesses in the disciplinary system for lawyers – particularly the ponderous conduct board – and introduced changes to the Legal Practitioners Act which come into force today.

The new commissioner will have greater powers than the old board to deal with errant lawyers, while the Supreme Court will have the capacity to take action against lawyers who pose an immediate risk to the public.

Certain events – such as bankruptcy or being convicted of a serious offence – will require a lawyer to explain to the court why he or she is still a fit and proper person to practise law. The court, in some circumstances, can immediately suspend a lawyer’s practising certificate.

In a clear response to the McGee case, the legislation says that a serious offence becomes a “show cause” event, whether or not the offence was committed in the course of a lawyer’s practise.

Rau said today that the new commissioner had the appropriate powers to deal with complaints and misconduct “fairly and appropriately”.

“The public will have a more streamlined complaint process,” Rau said.

“The commissioner has a range of tough but flexible measures at his disposal to address the misconduct of legal practitioners, while consumers will have enhanced protection measures.

“This includes a new public register of lawyers who have been disciplined by the commissioner.”

The commissioner provides a process for people to lodge formal complaints about conduct or overcharging, investigate complaints, and take disciplinary action.

In the most serious cases, the commissioner can lay charges before the tribunal, or make applications to the Supreme Court.

The commissioner can also take action in their own right, including suspending a lawyer’s practising certificate, imposing fines, ordering poor work to be redone, ordering apologies to complainants, and sending a lawyer to be retrained or counselled.

The first commissioner, Greg May, said his job was to make sure that lawyers were held accountable for their actions and give the community confidence that misconduct allegations would be handled fairly.

“All complaints lodged with my office will be investigated appropriately, and where I think there is sufficient evidence of misconduct, then I will deal with that misconduct using the new broad range of powers the new legislation gives me,” May said.

The commissioner has a website, launched today.

McGee was acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty of the lesser charges of driving without due care and failure to stop and render assistance after an accident. He was fined $3100 and lost his driver’s licence for 12 months.

In a separate trial, he and his brother Craig were acquitted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Former Attorney-General Michael Atkinson told an Australian Story investigation in 2012 that the public was angry because it appeared to be a case of the legal profession protecting one of its own.

McGee told the same program that the case had been “an unmitigated disaster for everybody”.

“Certainly for my family, clearly for Mr Humphrey’s family and for all people associated with Mr Humphreys. It’s a tragedy for everybody involved, and the effects are ongoing for everybody involved,” he said.

He also apologised: “Can I take this opportunity to extend my sympathies to the family for their loss. I am sorry for what occurred, and to apologise to them for my reaction to the accident.”

Disclosure: David Washington was media adviser to Attorney-General John Rau from January 2011 to July 2012.