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Amendment of section 30 of Principal Act
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27. Section 30 of the Principal Act is amended—
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(a) in subsection (1)—
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(i) in paragraph (a)—
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(I) by the substitution of “the scope of, or in breach of,” for “the scope of”, and
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(II) by the substitution of “agreement, or in breach of this Act” for “agreement”,
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and
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(ii) in paragraph (e), by the substitution of “to enter into, or to vary or revoke,” for “to enter into”,
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(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):
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“(1A) Following the receipt of a complaint under subsection (1) the Director shall carry out such review or investigation of the matter the subject of the complaint as he or she considers appropriate and shall, subject to subsection (1B), form a view as to whether or not the complaint is well founded not later than 3 months after the date of his or her receipt of the complaint (in this section referred to as the ‘initial investigation period’).
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(1B) The Director may, before the date of expiry of the initial investigation period, extend the duration of his or her investigation by a period of up to 6 months from that date by sending written notice to the complainant, the person who is the subject of the complaint and the relevant person concerned giving reasons for the extension.”,
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(c) in subsection (2)—
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(i) by the substitution of “The Director shall, as soon as is practicable after having formed a view under subsection (1A)” for “Following the receipt of a complaint under subsection (1), the Director shall carry out an investigation of the matter which is the subject of the complaint and”,
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(ii) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “complaint,” for “complaint, or”, and
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(iii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):
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“(aa) notwithstanding paragraph (a), where he or she is of the view that the complaint is well founded and that—
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(i) the provision of clarification by him or her to the co-decision-maker regarding the role of the co-decision-maker would be an appropriate resolution, or
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(ii) the subject matter of the complaint could be appropriately resolved under section 96(4),
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the Director may, not later than 3 months after having formed a view under subsection (1A), provide the clarification referred to in subparagraph (i), or proceed to resolve the complaint as soon as possible under section 96(4), as the case may be, and”,
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(d) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “3 months” for “21 days”,
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(e) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “investigation, to which this section shall, with any necessary modifications, apply” for “investigation and make an application to the court for a determination in relation to any matter specified in subsection (1) ”.
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(f) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (4):
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“(4A) Where subsection (2)(aa) applies and the Director has provided the clarification referred to in subparagraph (i) of that subsection or has resolved the complaint under section 96(4) as referred to in subparagraph (ii) of that subsection, the Director may—
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(a) request further information regarding the outcome of the clarification or resolution, as the case may be, or
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(b) request confirmation that the complaint has been resolved,
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from the complainant, the person who is the subject of the complaint or the relevant person, as the Director considers appropriate.
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(4B) If the Director is not satisfied, following the receipt of the information or confirmation referred to in subsection (4A), that the clarification or resolution referred to in that subsection has satisfactorily resolved the complaint, the Director may make an application to the court in accordance with subsection (2)(a) or may take such other steps as he or she considers appropriate in order to resolve the complaint.”,
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(g) in subsection (5)—
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(i) in paragraph (a), by the deletion of “or (4)”,
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(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “subsection (3) or (7)(b)” for “subsection (3)”, and
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(iii) by the substitution of “concerned, and that the Register shall be amended accordingly” for “concerned”,
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and
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(h) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (5):
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“(6) The Director shall, in accordance with this section, investigate a complaint under subsection (1) unless in his or her opinion there has been undue delay in making the complaint.
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(7) A decision by the Director under subsection (6) not to investigate a complaint—
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(a) shall be in writing, shall contain the reasons for the decision and shall be sent to the complainant as soon as possible after it is made, and
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(b) may be appealed by the complainant to the court not later than 3 months after the date of receipt by the complainant of the decision.”.
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