Charter Case Committee Rules

Made by the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on 11 November 2021, to come in to force on 25 August 2023.

Citation

1. These rules may be cited as the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Charter Case Rules 2021.

Interpretation

2. In these rules:-
   
   
   • “Act” means the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966;
   • “Charter” means the Supplementary Royal Charter 2015;
   • “Council” means the Council of the RCVS mentioned in section 1 of the Act;
   • "Disciplinary Committee" means the Disciplinary Committee mentioned in section 15 of the Act;
   • "Lay person" means a person who is not and never has been a registered veterinary surgeon or a registered or listed veterinary nurse, and is not and never has been entitled to apply to be so registered or listed;
   • “Legally qualified” means a solicitor, barrister, Scottish advocate or member of the Northern Irish Bar;
   • "Preliminary Investigation Committee" means the Preliminary Investigation Committee set up under section 15 of the Act;
   • “Veterinary Nurses’ Council” means the Veterinary Nurses’ Council mentioned in article 13 of the Charter;
   • “Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee” means the Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee mentioned in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Veterinary Nurse Conduct and Discipline Rules 2014;
   • “Veterinary Nurse Preliminary Investigation Committee” means the Veterinary Nurse Preliminary Investigation Committee mentioned in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Veterinary Nurse Conduct and Discipline Rules 2014;

The Charter Case Committee

3. There shall be a Charter Case Committee which shall determine cases referred to it by the Preliminary Investigation Committee or the Veterinary Nurse Preliminary Investigation Committee, or by other means, in line with the Charter Case Protocol.
4. The quorum for decisions of the Charter Case Committee shall be three, to include:
   
   
   • a lay member and a veterinary surgeon and one other; or
   • a lay member and a veterinary nurse and one other.
5. The lay members shall be legally qualified.
6. The Committee shall be chaired by a lay person.

Appointment of members

7. The Council will set up a committee (here referred to as “the selection committee”) to advise it on the appointment of members of the Charter Case Committee. Before appointing members of the Charter Case Committee, Council will have regard to the advice of the selection committee.
8. The selection committee will not include members of the Council.
9. The following are ineligible for membership of the Charter Case Committee:
   
   
   • members of Council;
   • current or previous members of the Preliminary Investigation Committee or Veterinary Nurses Preliminary Investigation Committee (unless three years has lapsed since their membership);
   • current members of the Disciplinary Committee or Veterinary Nurses Disciplinary Committee.

Terms of office

10. Appointed members of the Charter Case Committee will hold office for four years or such shorter terms as the Council may determine in a particular case.

Conditions about fitness to be a member of the Charter Case Committee

11. Members of the committees will hold office subject to satisfying the following conditions:
    
    
    1. they must at no time have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or deception in the United Kingdom, or in relation to the welfare of animals, or where the final outcome of the proceedings was a sentence of imprisonment or detention, the conviction not being a spent conviction;
    2. they must at no time have been removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by reason of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which the person was responsible or to which the person was privy, or which the person contributed to or facilitated by their conduct;
    3. they must at no time have been removed from office as the chair, member, convenor or director of any public body on the grounds that it was not in the interests of, or conducive to the good management of, that body that the person should continue to hold that office;
    4. they must at no time have been adjudged bankrupt or had sequestration of their estate awarded, the person not having been discharged;
    5. they must not be the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim bankruptcy restrictions order;
    6. they must at no time have made a composition or arrangement with, or granted a trust deed for, their creditors, not having been discharged in respect of it;
    7. they must not be disqualified from being a company director;
    8. they must not be included in a barred list under statutory provisions for the safeguarding of vulnerable groups;
    9. they must at no time have been subject to any investigation or proceedings concerning fitness to practise by any licensing body, if the final outcome of the investigation or proceedings was suspension from a register held by the licensing body (that suspension not having been terminated), or erasure from such a register, or a decision that had the effect of preventing practice of the profession licensed or regulated by the licensing body, or only allowing practice subject to conditions which were not lifted;
    10. they must at no time have had their name removed from the register of veterinary surgeons under section 16 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966;
    11. they must not have been the subject of a direction under section 16 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 for their registration to be suspended, if that suspension remains in operation;
    12. they must not have been subject to an adverse finding by any licensing body or regulator as regards their fitness to practise;
    13. they must not be, or have been, subject to any investigation or proceedings concerning fitness to practise by any licensing body or by the Council, or at any time convicted of an offence elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, if the Council is satisfied that their membership of the committee would in view of that investigation or those proceedings or that conviction be liable to undermine public confidence in the regulation of the veterinary profession;
    14. they must undertake any education or training required by the Council and comply with any arrangements as to appraisal of their performance as committee members which the Council may require;
    15. they must not be unable to perform their duties as committee members because of adverse physical or mental health.
12. The Council may remove from office any member of the Charter Case Committee if satisfied that they do not comply with one or more of the conditions mentioned above, or that their membership of the committee would for any other reason be liable to undermine public confidence in the regulation of the veterinary profession.
13. Before removing from office a member of the Charter Case Committee, the Council will set up a panel to advise it on the matter and will have regard to the advice of that panel. The panel will not include members of the Council.

Powers of the Charter Case Committee

14. In line with the Charter Case Protocol, the Charter Case Committee may:
    
    
    • Issue a warning to a veterinary surgeon or Registered Veterinary Nurse, to be published on the RCVS website for a period of time specified by the Committee, or
    • Issue a confidential warning to a veterinary surgeon or Registered Veterinary Nurse, or
    • Refer cases back to the Preliminary Investigation Committee.

Decisions

15. The CCC may make decisions at a meeting, by reviewing the documents or by other means.
16. Decisions of the CCC shall be by majority.