The Medical Council has published its annual report in accordance with the Health Care Professions Act of 2003.

This law marked a significant advance in making the Medical Council more representative, more transparent and accountable, thus addressing to some degree, the serious inherent democratic deficit that previously existed in an important statutory body.

However, more remains to be done to make this institution "function to its full efficiency and autonomously", as the 2007 report states.

This report has not been published in printed form as usual, but has been made available on the internet.

This may be cheaper and trendy but it does deprive a section of our population, which is not negligible, from having access to it.

The Medical Council has started charging fees for registration, certification, examination and sundry services to over 1,000 doctors obliged to seek these offices according to law, thus in the words of the report, "generating revenue".

This revenue is passed on to the Department of Health without a previous public audited account.

However, this annual report does say that the Medical Council "lacks appropriate funds" but lives in the hope that "a strategic plan is being drawn up", whatever that may mean.

As to the transparency and accountability of its operation the Medical Council Annual Report records two separate cases of misconduct in two doctors: one, tried in the UK, had his licence to practise suspended for a month and his name published, and the other tried and convicted in our courts and his licence suspended for 10 years, but his name was not published by order of the court.

The non-publication of his name was endorsed by our Medical Council. One can safely say we are sui generis.