Part 6Legal Complaints
The ombudsmen
122Appointment of the Chief Ombudsman and assistant ombudsmen
1
The OLC—
a
must appoint a person to act as Chief Ombudsman for the purposes of the ombudsman scheme, and
b
may, with the consent of the Chief Ombudsman, appoint one or more other persons to act as assistant ombudsmen for those purposes.
2
The person appointed under subsection (1)(a) must be a lay person.
3
It is a condition of an appointment under subsection (1)(b) that the person appointed must not during the appointment carry on any activity which is a reserved legal activity for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward.
4
Each person appointed under subsection (1)(a) or (b) must be a person appearing to the OLC to have appropriate qualifications and experience to act as an ombudsman for the purposes of the ombudsman scheme.
5
In this Act a reference to an “ombudsman” (except in the expressions “ombudsman scheme”, “Chief Ombudsman” and “assistant ombudsman”) is a reference to the Chief Ombudsman or an assistant ombudsman.
6
A person’s appointment as Chief Ombudsman ceases if that person ceases to be a lay person.
7
The terms and conditions on which a person is appointed as an assistant ombudsman must specify the consequences of a breach of the condition imposed by subsection (3).
8
Subject to that, a person’s appointment as an ombudsman is to be on such terms and conditions (including terms as to the duration and termination of a person’s appointment and as to remuneration) as the OLC considers—
a
consistent with ensuring the independence of the person appointed, and
b
otherwise appropriate.
9
Appointment as an ombudsman does not confer the status of Crown servant.
10
In this section “lay person” has the same meaning as in Schedule 15.