(1)If any registered optician—
(a)is convicted by any court in the United Kingdom of any criminal offence; or
(b)is judged by the Disciplinary Committee to have been guilty of serious professional misconduct,
the Committee may make a disciplinary order against him.
(2)If—
(a)an enrolled body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act, or of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of, or inciting another person to commit, such an offence; or
(b)in the case of a body corporate which is for the time being enrolled by virtue of paragraph (a), (c) or (d) of section 9(2) above, the Disciplinary Committee is of opinion that the condition, or any of the conditions, for the enrolment of the body corporate under that subsection is no longer satisfied,
the Committee may make a disciplinary order against that body corporate.
(3)Where a registered optician dies while he is either a director of an enrolled body corporate or the manager of that part of the business of an enrolled body corporate which consists of the testing of sight or the fitting and supply of optical appliances, he shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (2) above, to have continued to be a director of that body or a manager of that part of its business, as the case may be, until the expiration of three months beginning with the date of his death or until a director or manager is appointed in his place, whichever occurs first.
(4)If it appears to the Disciplinary Committee that a registered optician or an enrolled body corporate—
(a)has contravened or failed to comply with any rules made under section 30 below; or
(b)has failed to pay the sum specified in a penalty order within the period there specified,
the Committee may make a disciplinary order against the optician or body corporate.
(5)If it appears to the Disciplinary Committee—
(a)that a registered optician or enrolled body corporate is engaged in the fitting and supply of optical appliances; and
(b)that the arrangements made by the optician or body corporate for carrying on his practice or his or its business are not such as to secure that the fitting and supply of optical appliances in the course of that practice or business are carried out by, or under the supervision of—
(i)an ophthalmic optician registered in the register of ophthalmic opticians engaged or proposing to engage both in the testing of sight and in the fitting and supply of optical appliances; or
(ii)a registered dispensing optician,
the Committee may make a disciplinary order against that optician or body corporate.
(6)Where—
(a)a disciplinary order is made against a director of an enrolled body corporate; or
(b)a responsible officer of an enrolled body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act; or
(c)a disciplinary order is made against a registered optician employed by an enrolled body corporate and the act or omission constituting the ground on which the order was made was instigated or connived at by a responsible officer of the body corporate, or, if the act or omission was a continuing act or omission, a responsible officer of the body corporate had or reasonably ought to have had knowledge of its continuance,
the Disciplinary Committee may make a disciplinary order against the body corporate.
(7)In a case—
(a)where—
(i)an enrolled body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act; and
(ii)the offence was instigated or connived at by a responsible officer of the body corporate, or, if the offence was a continuing offence, a responsible officer of the body corporate had or reasonably ought to have had knowledge of its continuance; or
(b)where—
(i)a disciplinary order is made against an enrolled body corporate; and
(ii)the act or omission constituting the ground on which the order was made was instigated or connived at by a responsible officer of the body corporate, or, if the act or omission was a continuing act or omission, a responsible officer of the body corporate had or reasonably ought to have had knowledge of its continuance,
the Disciplinary Committee may, if the responsible officer is a registered optician, make a disciplinary order against him.
(8)The Disciplinary Committee shall not take a case into consideration—
(a)during any period within which proceedings by way of appeal may be brought which may result in subsection (6) or (7) above being rendered inapplicable in that case; or
(b)while any such proceedings are pending.
(9)Where it appears to the Disciplinary Committee—
(a)that a body corporate which carries on business as an ophthalmic or dispensing optician at more than one set of premises is liable to have a disciplinary order made against it; and
(b)that the events giving rise to the liability were confined, or substantially confined, to a particular set of premises,
the Committee may, instead of making a disciplinary order against the body corporate, direct that the body corporate shall not use the title of optician, ophthalmic optician, dispensing optician, registered optician, enrolled optician or optometrist in connection with that set of premises; and if at any time thereafter it appears to the Committee that the body corporate has contravened a direction in force under this subsection, the Committee may make a disciplinary order against the body corporate.
(10)A direction under subsection (9) above shall remain in force until revoked, on an application made to them in that behalf, by the Disciplinary Committee.
(11)When the Disciplinary Committee—
(a)make a disciplinary order against an individual or body corporate; or
(b)direct that a body corporate shall not use any of the titles specified in subsection (9) above in connection with a set of premises,
the registrar shall serve on that individual or body a notification of the order or direction.
(12)Any power conferred by this section to make a disciplinary order is a power to make—
(a)an erasure order;
(b)a suspension order;
(c)a penalty order; or
(d)an erasure order or suspension order together with a penalty order.
(13)In this Act “responsible officer” means any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a body corporate, or of a branch or department of a body corporate, or any person purporting to act in any such capacity.