The General Osteopathic Council (Fraud or Error and Appeals) Rules Order of Council 1999

SCHEDULE PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING AN APPEAL

Hearing of the appeal

1.—(1) As soon as practicable after the person aggrieved has appealed against a relevant decision the Registrar shall—

(a) fix a day on which the General Council is to hold a hearing of the case;

• and

(b) notify the person aggrieved of the day on which and the time and place at which the hearing is to be held.

(2) The Registrar shall not fix a day for the hearing on any day earlier than the end of the period of twenty eight days beginning with the day on which the notice under subparagraph (1) has been sent.

(3) The Registrar and the person aggrieved may appear before the Council and be legally represented.

(4) The person aggrieved and the Registrar may produce documentary evidence to the General Council, may (subject to subparagraph (5)) call witnesses and may put questions to any person called as a witness.

(5) The person aggrieved and the Registrar shall each, before the beginning of the period of seven days ending with the date fixed for the hearing, produce to the other a list of witnesses to be called at the hearing failing which a witness may not be called except with the consent of the General Council.

Private Hearings

2.  The oral hearing shall be in private unless the person aggrieved requests a public hearing.

Postponement of adjournment of Hearing

3.—(1) The General Council, either of their own motion or at the request in writing of the person aggrieved, may postpone a hearing at any time before the beginning of the hearing and may adjourn the proceedings from time to time as they think fit.

(2) Where a hearing has been postponed or proceedings have been adjourned for more than twenty eight days the Registrar shall send the person aggrieved notice of the date on which the General Council is to hold the postponed hearing or resume the hearing that has been adjourned and the Registrar shall not fix a day for the postponed hearing and the Council shall not resume the hearing on any day earlier than the end of the period of twenty eight days beginning with the date on which the notice has been sent.

Absence of the person aggrieved

4.  Where the person aggrieved is neither present nor represented at the hearing, the General Council may nevertheless proceed with the hearing if it is satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken in accordance with rule 3(1) to serve the notice of the hearing on the person aggrieved.

Procedure at the hearing

5.—(1) The procedure of the General Council at the hearing shall be as follows—

(a) the Registrar shall present the case in support of the relevant decision and may call and question witnesses and may give evidence on his own behalf;

(b) The Registrar and any person called on his behalf may be cross-examined by the person aggrieved and, in the case of persons called on his behalf, may be re-examined by the Registrar and the Registrar may give evidence a second time;

(c) the person aggrieved may present the case against the relevant decision and may call and question witnesses and may give evidence on his own behalf;

(d) the person aggrieved and any person called on his behalf may be cross-examined by the Registrar and, in the case of persons called on his behalf, may be re-examined by the person aggrieved and the person aggrieved may give evidence a second time;

(e) the Registrar may address the General Council concerning the relevant decision;

(f) the person aggrieved may address the General Council concerning the relevant decision.

(2) Where the Registrar or the person aggrieved are legally represented, references in subparagraph (1) to the Registrar or the person aggrieved—

(a) presenting the case;

(b) calling or questioning witnesses; or

(c) addressing the General Council

shall be read as references to the representative of the Registrar or the person aggrieved as the case may be.

(3) Members of the General Council present at the hearing, the legal assessor and the medical assessor may, with the consent of the Chairman of the General Council or, where the Chairman of the General Council is not present at the hearing, the consent of the person who is chairing the hearing, question any person giving evidence at the hearing.

(4) Where it appears to the General Council necessary or expedient either—

(a) for the proper or expeditious running of the hearing; or

(b) for the convenience of a witness at the hearing

that the procedure set out in subparagraph (1) should be changed, the Council may, after consulting the legal assessor and giving the Registrar and the person aggrieved or their representatives the opportunity to be heard on the matter, decide to change the procedure and in particular the Council may decide that the order of the calling of the witnesses be different from that set out in subparagraph (1) and that a witness may be recalled to give further evidence.

Decision of the General Council

6.—(1) The General Council shall in private decide whether to dismiss or allow the appeal.

(2) The General Council shall have power to confirm, overturn in whole or in part, or vary the order of the Registrar as it thinks fit.

(3) The decision of the majority of the members of the General Council who are present at the hearing shall be the decision of the Council, but if the vores are equal, the appeal shall be decided in favour of the person aggrieved.

(4) The decision of the General Council shall be given in writing and the Registrar shall—

(a) as soon as practicable after the hearing, send a copy fo the decision and the reasons for the decision to the person aggrieved; and

(b) inform the person aggrieved of his right to appeal, on a point of law, against the decision of the Council in accordance with section 29(4) of the Act.

Recording of proceedings

7.—(1) The Registrar shall arrange for the proceedings of the General Council at an oral hearing of an appeal to be recorded.

(2) The person aggrieved shall, on application to the Registrar and on payment of a reasonable charge, be sent a transcript of the proceedings.