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The Professional Conduct Committee, appointed by the Council, is comprised of Institute members and one public representative. The Committee investigates any alleged unprofessional conduct and decides whether any further action is necessary.
When a formal written complaint is received, a copy of the complaint is immediately forwarded to the member or student who is asked to provide comments. A copy of the member’s or student’s comments is then sent to the complainant, who is advised that additional information or comments may be provided. The complaint and response are forwarded by the Director of Ethics to the Professional Conduct Committee for preliminary review. Until this point, only the Committee Chair and Institute legal counsel have received copies of the correspondence.
When the Professional Conduct Committee decides to review a matter that comes to its attention from another source, such as the newspaper, the member or student is advised that a preliminary review will be completed and the relevant facts are collected. Comments from the member or student may be requested during this phase or may not be requested until specific allegations have been developed based upon the facts collected. Once the member or student provides comments, the Professional Conduct Committee decides whether or not to proceed further with its investigation.
Members and students are entitled to be represented by legal counsel at any point during the process and may request the opportunity to make an oral submission to the Professional Conduct Committee or may be asked by the Committee to appear before it.
The Professional Conduct Committee, after considering the information before it, may decide:
- to dismiss the complaint and close the file if it is of the opinion that the complaint is without substance
- to provide guidance and advice to the member if the it feels that the member or student has acted improperly but that charges of professional misconduct are not warranted by the circumstances
- to lay charges of professional misconduct if it thinks charges are warranted and there is sufficient evidence to support the charges without further investigation
- to appoint an investigator to enquire into the relevant background facts and provide a report as to his or her findings to the Professional Conduct Committee
Matters under investigation and information gathered by the Professional Conduct Committee are confidential to the Committee except to the extent necessary to carry out a prosecution where charges are laid.
Complainants are informed as to the disposition of their complaints after investigation by the Professional Conduct Committee. If after closing a file new information is provided, the Committee may reopen the matter. |
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