The General Pharmaceutical Council (Appeals Committee Rules) Order of Council 2010

Attendance of the public at hearings

16.—(1) Except as provided for by this rule, hearings before the Committee must be conducted in public.

(2) Where an issue under consideration relates to the health of the appellant or a third party, the hearing, or the relevant part of the hearing, that relates to that issue must be conducted in private if the Committee is satisfied—

(a) having given the parties (where present), and any third party from whom the Committee considers it appropriate to hear, an opportunity to make representations; and

(b) having obtained the advice of a clinical adviser,

that the interest of the appellant or the third party in maintaining their privacy as regards that issue outweighs the public interest in holding the hearing, or the relevant part of the hearing, in public.

(3) Where an issue under consideration does not relate to the health of the appellant or a third party, the hearing, or the relevant part of the hearing, that relates to that issue may be conducted in private if the Committee—

(a) has given the parties (where present), and any third party from whom the Committee considers it appropriate to hear, an opportunity to make representations; and

(b) is satisfied that the interest of any person in maintaining their privacy as regards that issue outweighs the public interest in holding the hearing, or the relevant part of the hearing, in public.

(4) The Committee may exclude from the whole or any part of a hearing any person whose conduct, in the opinion of the Committee, has disrupted or is likely to disrupt the hearing.