Legal Services Regulation Act 2015
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Establishment and membership of Complaints Committee | ||
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69. (1) The Authority shall establish a committee, to be known as the Complaints Committee, for the purpose of considering and investigating complaints referred to it by the Authority under section 68 . | ||
(2) A member of the Complaints Committee shall— | ||
(a) hold office for a period of 4 years from the date of his or her appointment, and | ||
(b) be eligible for reappointment as a member of the Complaints Committee, provided that he or she does not hold office for periods the aggregate of which exceeds 8 years. | ||
(3) The Complaints Committee shall be appointed by the Authority and shall consist of not more than 27 members of whom— | ||
(a) the majority shall be lay persons, | ||
(b) not fewer than 8 shall be persons nominated by the Law Society, each of whom has practised as a solicitor for more than 10 years, and | ||
(c) not fewer than 4 shall be persons nominated by the Bar Council, each of whom has practised in the State as a barrister for more than 10 years. | ||
(4) In appointing lay persons to be members of the Complaints Committee the Authority shall ensure that those members are persons who— | ||
(a) are independent of the professional bodies, and | ||
(b) have expertise in or knowledge of— | ||
(i) the provision of legal services, | ||
(ii) the maintenance of standards in a profession (including those regulated by a statutory body), | ||
(iii) the investigation and consideration of complaints relating to services, or | ||
(iv) the interests of consumers of legal services. | ||
(5) The Complaints Committee shall act in divisions of not less than 3 members and not more than 5 members (in this Act referred to as a “Divisional Committee”). | ||
(6) A Divisional Committee shall consist of an uneven number of members. | ||
(7) Each Divisional Committee shall have a majority of lay members. | ||
(8) The chairperson of each Divisional Committee shall be one of the lay members of that Divisional Committee. | ||
(9) The chief executive shall make arrangements for the provision of such administrative and secretarial support to each Divisional Committee as he or she considers necessary. | ||
(10) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), where a complaint relates to a solicitor— | ||
(a) in a case where the Divisional Committee consists of 3 members, one of the members of the Divisional Committee shall be a solicitor, | ||
(b) in a case where the Divisional Committee consists of 5 members, 2 of the members of the Divisional Committee shall be solicitors. | ||
(11) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), where a complaint relates to a barrister— | ||
(a) in a case where the Divisional Committee consists of 3 members, one of the members of the Divisional Committee shall be a barrister, | ||
(b) in a case where the Divisional Committee consists of 5 members, 2 of the members of the Divisional Committee shall be barristers. |