This site is based on Disciplinary and Regulatory
Proceedings, 4th Edition.
Index for "Updates"AADBAccountancy & Actuarial Discipline Board: Efficient and effective changes to Disciplinary arrangements -- The Accountancy & Actuarial Discipline Board ("AADB") is the independent, investigative and di...ArbitrationThe procedure for the appointment of an arbitrator exists at least in part for the protection of the parties to the arbitration. A departure from the procedure would render the award a nullity: Sumuka...Bar Standards BoardBar Standards Board - the future of the Bar's complaints and disciplinary processes -- The Bar Standards Board was established in January 2006 as a result of the Bar Council separating its regulatory ...Chapter 4: Bringing office into disreputeMisuse of office can obviously bring disrepute on the office, but personal misconduct will be unlikely to do so. Per Collins J in Livingstone v Adjudication Panel for England [2006] EWHC 2533 (Admin)....Chapter 4: By what professional standard is bad work to be judged?It has been held that the standard to be expected of a doctor is ‘that applicable to the post to which he was appointed and the work he was carrying out.’ Holton v General Medical Council [2006] E...Chapter 9: The role of the legal assessorIt has been said that ‘it is well-established that the role of a legal assessor assisting a disciplinary panel is not analogous to that of a judge summing up in a criminal trial. In R (Campbell) v. ...Chapter 12: Probative value of a civil judgmentIt has been said that there can be ‘no reasonable objection to the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal reading ( the judgment of a Chancery Judge in a related matter ), provided it was clear and rig...Chapter 13: Taking a pleaThe practice of taking a formal plea of guilty is not inconsistent with Article 6 of the ECHR: X v UK (Application no 5076/71). March 1972; Revitt, Borg and Barnes v Director of Public Prosecutions [2...Chapter 13: The recording of disciplinary proceedingsAll but the most informal tribunals have some arrangement for recording their proceedings. This may take the form of written minutes or a mechanical recording. Both must be subject to challenge and co...Chapter 14: Costs against a regulatorThe comment of Moses LJ in Baxendale Walker v The Law Society [2006] EWHC 643 that, ‘Absent dishonesty or lack of good faith a costs order should not be made against a regulator unless there is good...Chapter 14: Costs against the prosecutorIn Attorney General of Gibraltar v Shimidzu (Andrew Ivan Berllaque, Intervenor) (2005) 20 BHRC 223 the Privy Council expressed the view that, 'The jurisprudence on the European Convention lends no sup...Chapter 14: Interim ordersIn the case of an interim order against a doctor, Article 6 of the ECHR is not normally engaged. All that is required is that the tribunal acts speedily and on the basis of credible evidence: R (on th...Chapter 14: The proper approach to imposing sanctionsThe courts are increasingly stressing the importance of tribunals considering all sanctions before imposing a greater sanction. For example, a finding of the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal Colleg...Chapter 16: Law Society intervention ordersIn an appeal against a statutory intervention order made by the Law Society remarks were made which would seem to have a wider application than their particular context. -- The making of an interventi...Costs in disciplinary proceedingsThe proper approach to the award of costs for proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and other professional bodies was summarised by the Judicial Com...Costs on suspensionThere could be no general rule that the tribunal should not impose an order for costs in addition to an order for the suspension of a solicitor. Whether or not an order for costs, in addition to a sus...Curing defects on appeal‘…(W)here an apparently sensible appeal structure has been put in place, the court is entitled to approach the matter on the basis that the parties should have been taken have agreed to accept wha...Data Protection Act 2003On 24 October 2007 the Data Protection Act 1998 was amended in many important respects by the Data Protection Act 2003.DelayIn the case of Spiers v Ruddy (Scotland) [2007] UKPC D2 the House of Lords held that there is nothing in Article 6 of the ECHR to prevent a continuation of delayed proceedings, even if they have not b...Disclosure: Equality of arms‘One of the elements of the broader concept of a fair trial is the principle of equality of arms, which requires each party to be given a reasonable opportunity to present his or her case under cond...Dishonesty in Disciplinary ProceedingsThe decision of the Court of Appeal in Bultitude (Bultitude v Law Society [2004] EWCA Civ 1853) stands as binding authority that the test to be applied in the context of solicitors' disciplinary proce...Double jeopardyThe absence of any common law double jeopardy rule in professional misconduct proceedings was specifically noted in the case of R v Statutory Committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain [...Effects of a disciplinary finding in disciplinary proceedingsWhere the issues in a civil action overlap to a significant degree with those in disciplinary proceedings (in this case a finding of dishonesty) and it would be expensive and time-consuming to require...Evidence of disabilityThe Social Security Commissioner has given the following guidance on how the evidence of an approved disability analyst should be assessed. -- 1. In so far as the advice consists of an explanation, it...Expert evidence: need for personal examinationThe fact that a witness who gives an opinion has not examined, or even seen, the claimant does not render the evidence inadmissible. It is, though, relevant to the value that the tribunal may give to ...Freedom of expressionThe scope of the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention were comprehensively reviewed by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Kulis v Poland - 15601/02...Freedom of Information and data protectionAdvice on the interaction of the Freedom of Information and the Data Protection laws was given in the House of Lords in a Scottish context. It was said that, -- ‘There is much force in Lord Marnoch'...Fresh evidenceThe Privy Council rarely if ever had witnesses give evidence before it in appeals from decisions of the GMC. There is no reason to believe that when Parliament provided that such appeals should come t...GMC Fitness to Practise panelRashid v. General Medical Council, Fatani v. GMC (2007) 1 WLR 1460 -- 4. These two appeals from the GMC Fitness to Practice Panel reaffirmed the principal purpose of the Panel namely the preservation ...GMC sanctionsThe approach of the High Court to reviewing sanctions imposed by the Fitness to Practice Panel of the GMC were summarized by Laws LJ (with whom Chadwick LJ and Sir Peter Gibson agreed), in the case of...Hearsay evidenceA power to admit hearsay evidence in disciplinary proceedings is not necessarily incompatible with The European Convention on Human Rights. -- Article 6(3) of the Convention provides that ‘everyone ...Impartiality and the European ConventionThe existence of impartiality for the purposes of Article 6§1 of the European Convention of Human Rights must be determined according to a subjective test, that is on the basis of the personal convic...Interim suspension ordersGeneral Medical Council v. Hiew [2007] 1 WLR 2007 -- 1. This case before the Court of Appeal considered the criteria for the exercise of the powers to extend interim suspension order made by the GMC�...Judicial review‘Once upon a time the question was posed in terms of an asserted dichotomy between provisions compliance with which is mandatory and provisions that are merely directory. That is no longer treated a...Judicial review of contractual relationshipsThe existence of a contractual relationship is not inconsistent with judicial review. Per Stanley Burnton J in Mullins, R (on the application of) v The Jockey Club [2005] EWHC 2197 (Admin). Local auth...Legal assessorsIn R (Campbell) v GMC [2005] EWCA Civ. 250 the Court of Appeal affirmed Lord Hailsham's propositions in Libman v GMC [1972] AC 217 as governing the approach that any court should adopt to the role of ...Legal assessors: Watson v General Medical Council [2005] EWHC 1896 (Admin)The requirements of a fair trial are not necessarily infringed if the legal assessor retires with the tribunal; but the parties must be given an opportunity to make representations on the advice given...Membership criteria'... the same underlying principles (of suitability for membership) apply to conduct both pre-admission and post-admission. It would be irrational to hold that a different test applies where matters c...Negligence as professional misconductAfter reviewing the authorities, Jackson J. summarized the law as follows: -- (1) Mere negligence does not constitute "misconduct" within the meaning of section 35C(2)(a) of the Medical Act 1983. Neve...Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher EducationUnder the Higher Education Act 2004 the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) has been designated the body responsible for dealing with student complaints. The purpose of th...Open hearings: Financial Services OmbudsmanBy virtue of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 225 the Financial Ombudsman Service provides a service "under which … disputes may be resolved quickly and with minimum formality". ...Personal mitigationTo the extent that they decided that evidence exclusively relevant to personal mitigation could be considered by the Committee when deciding whether serious professional misconduct was proved, the dec...POVA ListR (on the application of Wright and others) v Secretary of State for Health and another [2007] EWCA Civ 99; [2008] 1 All ER 886 CA -- The Care Standards Act 2000 introduced a list for the protection o...Private hearingsIn the case of L v The Law Society [2008] EWCA Civ 811 it was held that: The existence of prior convictions, either spent or unspent, is not of itself sufficient to amount to an exceptional circumstan...Private warnings and potential challenge by the Information CommissionerThere has been a recent decision of the Information Commissioner which impacts on the ability of the FSA and other regulators to resolve regulatory issues privately without the need to follow a public..."Private warnings' no longer private?An important decision of the Information Commissioner will potentially affect the practice of many disciplinary and regulatory bodies. -- A complainant requested the Financial Services Authority (FSA)...Professional incompetenceProfessional incompetence -- ‘The (Architects Act 1997) distinguishes between serious professional incompetence and unacceptable professional conduct. However, as must be obvious, there is a conside...Public authorityThe Society of Lloyds is not a public authority for the purposes of section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998: Doll-Steinberg v Society of Lloyd’s [2002] EWHC 419 (Admin).'Public authority': generous interpretationSection 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 is intended to give effective domestic protection to convention rights as defined in and scheduled to the 1998 Act. It is accordingly appropriate to give a gener...RetrospectionFor an instance of the retrospective application of disciplinary proceedings to events which came to light only after registration see the case of Lewis, R (On The Application Of) v Prosthetists & Ort...Sanctions for solicitorsGuidance on the imposition of sanctions on solicitors was recently given by the High Court. -- ‘In Nahal v The Law Society [2003] EWHC 2186 Admin, Dyson LJ considered the effect of the Human Rights ...Solicitors Disciplinary RulesThe Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules 2007 came into force on 14 January 2008.Sporting bodies"I think that the courts must be slow to allow an implied obligation to be fair to be used as a means of bringing before the court for review honest decisions of bodies exercising jurisdiction over...Standard of ProofA recent opinion of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords has gone a long way to clarifying the standard of proof in certain civil proceedings. Lord Hoffmann’s opinion, from which the extrac...Teaching Council Rule'I cannot see any reason why, in these circumstances, a breach of the Rules, a failure by the Council to observe the Rules, which it has publicly proclaimed as the basis upon which it, a public body, ...The impartiality of a judgeThe existence of impartiality (of a judge) for the purposes of Article 6 § 1 must be determined according to a subjective test, that is on the basis of the personal conviction of a particular judge i...The independence of the prosecutorThe European Convention on Human Rights would not appear to require any degree of independence on the part of the prosecutor: Haase, R (on the application of) v Independent Adjudicator & Ors [2007] EW...The overriding objective of a fair trialIt is suggested that the following dictum of Treacy J in Robinson v Abergavenny Magistrates' Court [2007] EWHC 2005 (Admin) should be regarded as of equal application to disciplinary proceedings, exce...The status of guidance‘I appreciate that the Guidance is just that - guidance, not a list of mandatory requirements, but it will almost invariably be the appropriate starting point from which a departure may, or may not ...The use of sanctionsSir Thomas Bingham’s approach to the use of sanctions has been applied in relation to other professions (see Tait v. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [2003] UKPC 34; Archbold v. The Royal Co...Unacceptable professional conduct‘The (Architects) Act distinguishes between serious professional incompetence and unacceptable professional conduct. However, as must be obvious, there is a considerable overlap between the two and ...Unreasonable delayIn Selvarajan v General Medical Council [2008] EWHC 182 (Admin) Blake J. held that: -- the passage of time at common law and unreasonable delay in prosecuting proceedings for the purpose of Article 6 ...Vagueness in charge‘In my judgment, duplicity is not a basis for interfering with a disciplinary finding ..., although of course it may be relevant to the fairness of the proceedings and to the ultimate penalty if cha...Voluntary regulation of complementary medicineA new regulatory body called The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council is due to launch in April 2008. -- For information contact Natasha Finlayson, Communications Director, The Prince’s Foun...When should a disciplinary investigation be stayed pending civil proceedings?As Stanley Burnton J. Observed in the case of Land & Ors, R (on the application of) v Executive Counsel of the Joint Disciplinary Scheme [2002] EWHC 2086 (Admin): -- ‘The Divisional Court in R v Cha...Whistle blowers‘(I)n each of the instances identified in the six subsections (of section 43(b)(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996), the whistle-blower has to establish a reasonable belief that the information be...Without prejudice communications‘The exception to the rule governing without prejudice communications has at its heart an abuse of a privileged occasion. Moreover, it is an exemption which will rarely be found to be applicable. Th... |
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