1. Introduction
1.1 These Guidelines are intended to provide support to professionals within industry, members of Prime Dispute and members of other professional organisations who may be dissatisfied with the professional conduct of a member of Prime Dispute and wish to know if they have grounds to make a complaint to Prime Dispute.
2. What you can complain about
2.1 You may complain to Prime Dispute if you think that a member of Prime Dispute is guilty of “improper conduct”. This means that the member of Prime Dispute has not been honest, trustworthy or ethical. All Prime Dispute Members agree to abide by Prime Dispute's 'User Agreement', 'Business Ethics & Conflict of Interests Policy' & 'Professional Conduct for Members' or other similar policies depending if they are a Panel members or Certified Educator.
2.2 A member of Prime Dispute who has been found guilty of a criminal offence maybe also, but not definitely, guilty of improper conduct, even if this has nothing to do directly with his or her work. It will depend on what the member of Prime Dispute has done.
2.3 ‘Improper conduct’ is different from ‘negligence’. If you consider a member has been negligent and want to seek redress, you should pursue this matter by a separate procedure such as litigation or dispute resolution mechanisms. Prime Dispute will not normally consider a complaint against a member while such a claim is being pursued.
3. Members you may complain against
3.1 Complaints can only be considered by Prime Dispute if they concern an individual or Corporate member of Prime Dispute. Prime Dispute is unable to consider complaints against non-members.
3.2 You may complain about anyone who is a member of Prime Dispute of whatever grade of membership. Usually they will have the letters APD, MPD or FPD after their name. There are also other grades of membership, such as Trainee or similar, who do not have any letters after their names to show that they are members of Prime Dispute. You are able to check if someone is a member by emailing contact@primedispute. com .
4. Making a Complaint
4.1 Service
If any complaint about a member (APD, MPD, FPD) or similar are made in respect of the 'Service', which they have provided, the complaint should be made directly to that individual or their organisation. If a satisfactory response is not received on the outcome of the complaint and all other options have been exhausted then you may consider an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism and contact Prime Dispute for support at [email protected] .
4.2 Conduct
If you wish to make a complaint against a member (APD, MPD, FPD) or similar of Prime Dispute regarding their 'Conduct', you should email [email protected] and follow the process as detailed below.
5. The Information Required
5.1 What you are complaining about this should be a statement of exactly what it is that you think our member has done wrong, stating your reasons for regarding his or her behaviour as amounting to improper conduct. This should be a straightforward, logical account in simple language (English).
5.2 Record in date order the events that have lead to the complaint - Besides the statement of what you are complaining about, you may wish to provide a record of all the important events in the order in which they occurred. This will be particularly helpful if there are a series of related incidents spread over a period of time which, if taken together, could be considered to amount to improper conduct, but which, if viewed separately, would not necessarily be seen to be so serious.
5.3 Evidence to support your complaint - You should send in copies of whatever evidence is available to support your complaint, that is, to prove, as far as possible, that what you are saying is accurate and true. This can mean such things such as letters, photographs, bills or invoices and the terms of engagement and conditions of contract. You should only send in evidence that has a direct bearing on what you are complaining about. If you are not sure what you should send in, you may ask Prime Dispute.
5.4 Confirmation - You should also provide written permission for a copy of your complaint and the evidence you have sent in to be sent to the member you have complained against. In addition, you must provide written confirmation that you are not taking any legal action in relation to any matter connected with your complaint.
5.5 Please read our Terms & Conditions fully. Prime Dispute will collect, store, share and process member information within and outside the EU and comply with all data protection laws. If you have any questions, please contact Prime Dispute.
6. The Professional Conduct Process
6.1 Your complaint will be first considered by an Independent member of Prime Dispute (usually a Fellow).
6.2 To avoid delay, a complaint about a member’s professional conduct is usually referred to an Independent Member to consider. If they consider that there is a case to answer, a copy of your complaint, and the evidence you have supplied, will be sent to the member you have complained against. He or she will be asked to provide a written response to your complaint.
6.3 If the Independent Member considers your complaint is not justified, needs more investigation, or that your complaint is not related to professional conduct, they will either refer back to Prime Dispute or suggest a Panel should assess the compliant (a Panel consists of 2 or more independent members). If a majority of the Panel thinks that the complaint is not justified, or that your complaint is not about professional conduct, then Prime Dispute will write and tell you so. Usually, if the complaint is not considered to be justified, the member you have complained about will not be notified.
6.4 If the Independent Member or Panel consider that there is a case to answer, a copy of your complaint, and the evidence you have supplied, will be sent to the member you have complained about. He or she will be asked to submit a written a response to your complaint.
6.5 The Independent Member or Panel will not normally proceed with a complaint whilst legal action is pending.
6.6 When the response to your complaint has been received from the member you have complained against a copy of this will be sent to you so that you may comment on it if you wish. When your comments have been received, a copy of these will be sent to the member for the member’s observations.
6.7 When the member’s observations have been received, all these documents, together with your original complaint, will then be considered by the independent member or Panels.
6.8 The member of Prime Dispute complained about does not have to reply. But if the member fails to do so, the independent member or Panel will still consider your complaint.
7. The Independent Member or Panel’s decision
7.1 The Independent Member or Panel will decide one of the following:
(a) That the evidence does not indicate a case to answer; or
(b) That the member may be at fault but the matter complained about is not serious enough for it to be referred to the Disciplinary Board; or
(c) That the member has a case to answer and that the matter is sufficiently serious for independent member or Panel to refer the complaint to the Disciplinary Board; and
(d)Agree appropriate fines relating only to Prime Dispute's costs and those relating to the failure of the member.
7.2 If the Independent Member or Panel decides that the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement' or 'Terms and Conditions' or similar have not been broken, it will inform you, and the member you have complained about, of the reasons for its decision.
7.2 In some cases the Independent Member or Panel may decide that although the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement' or 'Terms and Conditions' or similar have not been broken, the member’s conduct has been below the standard of what Prime Dispute would expect of its members. In such cases the Independent member or Panel will tell the member, and if appropriate, advise the member of what should have been done. The Independent Member or Panel may also do this if it decides that although the member has been guilty of improper conduct it is not serious enough to be referred to the Disciplinary Board.
7.3 The member and the person making the complaint will be informed of the Independent Member's or Panels decision as soon as possible after it has considered the complaint. If the complaint is to be referred to the Disciplinary Board the member is told of the date on which the Board is to deal with the complaint. The member is also informed of what happens at the hearing and the procedures used by the Board.
8. The Disciplinary Board
8.1 The Disciplinary Board is responsible for adjudicating all cases referred to it by the Independent Member or Panel. It will decide whether the accused member is guilty of the alleged misconduct, and if it finds that he or she is guilty, it will decide what penalty should be imposed.
8.2 The Disciplinary Board consists of one independent member of Prime Dispute and two lay individuals. The Chair will be the Independent member of Prime dispute. At the hearing, the accused member is allowed to represent their own case.
8.3 No other persons are permitted to attend hearings of the Disciplinary Board.
8.4 If the Disciplinary Board finds the member guilty of the allegations against him or her, it has the power to make the following Orders, which are:
(a) Expulsion from Membership;
(b) Imposition of a Fine of up to £1,800 excluding VAT;
(c) Suspension from Membership for any period;
(d) Reprimand and or Admonition;
8.5 The Disciplinary Board will, unless it sees particular reasons for not doing so, arrange for the details of the order against the guilty member to be published.
9.Timetable for dealing with complaints
9.1 Completing this process with due diligence and in most cases will be within 3 months of receipt of the complaint. However, If the matter is referred to the Disciplinary Board, a hearing is arranged as soon as is practicable. Usually, hearings take place within three – six months of the case having been referred to the Disciplinary Board.
10. Right of Appeal
10.1 A member of Prime Dispute who has been found guilty of improper conduct has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Tribunal of Prime Dispute within 28 days of the date on which the Disciplinary Board’s decision is notified to the member, or, in the case of a Suspension, the date the Order is notified to the member. An appeal must be in writing and delivered to Prime Dispute and confirmation must be received by an Executive of Prime Dispute. An administrative charge, determined by the Tribunal, must be paid within 28 days of the date on which the Disciplinary Board’s decision, is notified to the member, or, in the case of a Suspension, the date the Order is notified to the member.
10.2 An appeal received after 28 days will be deemed invalid unless the Independent Fellow (FPD) (who has not directly been involved in the case) considers that there are exceptional circumstances that justify an extension.
10.3 The Appeal Tribunal consists of an Independent Fellow of Prime Dispute. No current member of the Disciplinary Board or Independent Member or Panel, or past member who participated in the consideration of the original case, shall be a member of the Appeals Tribunal.
10.4 An appeal against a decision of the Disciplinary Board may be made on one of more of the following grounds:
(a) Jurisdiction, i.e. whether the alleged improper conduct was within the scope of the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct; or
(b) Procedure, i.e. there was a serious breach of the procedures stipulated in the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement', 'Terms & Conditions' or similar; or
(c) Perversity, i.e. the decision was perverse in the light of the evidence; or
(d) Proportionality, i.e. the order of the Disciplinary Board was disproportionate to the gravity of the improper conduct of which the member was found guilty.
10.5 Reasons must be stated for each ground of appeal. Neither the scope of the appeal nor the grounds stated can be amended except with the consent of the Appeal Tribunal appointed to hear the appeal.
10.6 An appeal shall be in the form of a review only and not a rehearing. Oral hearings of the Appeals Tribunal shall follow the same principles and procedures as the Disciplinary Board, but with no witnesses being called. The Appellant may represent himself/herself or the arguments to be presented on his/her behalf may be presented by another person (one individual only) or by the Appellant’s legal representative (one individual only).
10.7 The decision of the Appeals Tribunal shall in all cases be published.
10.8 The Appeal Tribunal has the power to revoke, vary or uphold the decision of the Disciplinary Board. The Appeal Tribunal’s decision is final and conclusive. There is no right of appeal by the person who made the complaint against the member.
10.9 Should Prime Dispute not remove the membership designation of the member no recourse will be made against Prime Dispute or its Executives.
10.10 Neither Prime Dispute; President; Vice President, Trustees, Directors, Case Officers, Employees, Consultants, shall be liable for the service or contact of the Member.
1.1 These Guidelines are intended to provide support to professionals within industry, members of Prime Dispute and members of other professional organisations who may be dissatisfied with the professional conduct of a member of Prime Dispute and wish to know if they have grounds to make a complaint to Prime Dispute.
2. What you can complain about
2.1 You may complain to Prime Dispute if you think that a member of Prime Dispute is guilty of “improper conduct”. This means that the member of Prime Dispute has not been honest, trustworthy or ethical. All Prime Dispute Members agree to abide by Prime Dispute's 'User Agreement', 'Business Ethics & Conflict of Interests Policy' & 'Professional Conduct for Members' or other similar policies depending if they are a Panel members or Certified Educator.
2.2 A member of Prime Dispute who has been found guilty of a criminal offence maybe also, but not definitely, guilty of improper conduct, even if this has nothing to do directly with his or her work. It will depend on what the member of Prime Dispute has done.
2.3 ‘Improper conduct’ is different from ‘negligence’. If you consider a member has been negligent and want to seek redress, you should pursue this matter by a separate procedure such as litigation or dispute resolution mechanisms. Prime Dispute will not normally consider a complaint against a member while such a claim is being pursued.
3. Members you may complain against
3.1 Complaints can only be considered by Prime Dispute if they concern an individual or Corporate member of Prime Dispute. Prime Dispute is unable to consider complaints against non-members.
3.2 You may complain about anyone who is a member of Prime Dispute of whatever grade of membership. Usually they will have the letters APD, MPD or FPD after their name. There are also other grades of membership, such as Trainee or similar, who do not have any letters after their names to show that they are members of Prime Dispute. You are able to check if someone is a member by emailing contact@primedispute. com .
4. Making a Complaint
4.1 Service
If any complaint about a member (APD, MPD, FPD) or similar are made in respect of the 'Service', which they have provided, the complaint should be made directly to that individual or their organisation. If a satisfactory response is not received on the outcome of the complaint and all other options have been exhausted then you may consider an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism and contact Prime Dispute for support at [email protected] .
4.2 Conduct
If you wish to make a complaint against a member (APD, MPD, FPD) or similar of Prime Dispute regarding their 'Conduct', you should email [email protected] and follow the process as detailed below.
5. The Information Required
5.1 What you are complaining about this should be a statement of exactly what it is that you think our member has done wrong, stating your reasons for regarding his or her behaviour as amounting to improper conduct. This should be a straightforward, logical account in simple language (English).
5.2 Record in date order the events that have lead to the complaint - Besides the statement of what you are complaining about, you may wish to provide a record of all the important events in the order in which they occurred. This will be particularly helpful if there are a series of related incidents spread over a period of time which, if taken together, could be considered to amount to improper conduct, but which, if viewed separately, would not necessarily be seen to be so serious.
5.3 Evidence to support your complaint - You should send in copies of whatever evidence is available to support your complaint, that is, to prove, as far as possible, that what you are saying is accurate and true. This can mean such things such as letters, photographs, bills or invoices and the terms of engagement and conditions of contract. You should only send in evidence that has a direct bearing on what you are complaining about. If you are not sure what you should send in, you may ask Prime Dispute.
5.4 Confirmation - You should also provide written permission for a copy of your complaint and the evidence you have sent in to be sent to the member you have complained against. In addition, you must provide written confirmation that you are not taking any legal action in relation to any matter connected with your complaint.
5.5 Please read our Terms & Conditions fully. Prime Dispute will collect, store, share and process member information within and outside the EU and comply with all data protection laws. If you have any questions, please contact Prime Dispute.
6. The Professional Conduct Process
6.1 Your complaint will be first considered by an Independent member of Prime Dispute (usually a Fellow).
6.2 To avoid delay, a complaint about a member’s professional conduct is usually referred to an Independent Member to consider. If they consider that there is a case to answer, a copy of your complaint, and the evidence you have supplied, will be sent to the member you have complained against. He or she will be asked to provide a written response to your complaint.
6.3 If the Independent Member considers your complaint is not justified, needs more investigation, or that your complaint is not related to professional conduct, they will either refer back to Prime Dispute or suggest a Panel should assess the compliant (a Panel consists of 2 or more independent members). If a majority of the Panel thinks that the complaint is not justified, or that your complaint is not about professional conduct, then Prime Dispute will write and tell you so. Usually, if the complaint is not considered to be justified, the member you have complained about will not be notified.
6.4 If the Independent Member or Panel consider that there is a case to answer, a copy of your complaint, and the evidence you have supplied, will be sent to the member you have complained about. He or she will be asked to submit a written a response to your complaint.
6.5 The Independent Member or Panel will not normally proceed with a complaint whilst legal action is pending.
6.6 When the response to your complaint has been received from the member you have complained against a copy of this will be sent to you so that you may comment on it if you wish. When your comments have been received, a copy of these will be sent to the member for the member’s observations.
6.7 When the member’s observations have been received, all these documents, together with your original complaint, will then be considered by the independent member or Panels.
6.8 The member of Prime Dispute complained about does not have to reply. But if the member fails to do so, the independent member or Panel will still consider your complaint.
7. The Independent Member or Panel’s decision
7.1 The Independent Member or Panel will decide one of the following:
(a) That the evidence does not indicate a case to answer; or
(b) That the member may be at fault but the matter complained about is not serious enough for it to be referred to the Disciplinary Board; or
(c) That the member has a case to answer and that the matter is sufficiently serious for independent member or Panel to refer the complaint to the Disciplinary Board; and
(d)Agree appropriate fines relating only to Prime Dispute's costs and those relating to the failure of the member.
7.2 If the Independent Member or Panel decides that the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement' or 'Terms and Conditions' or similar have not been broken, it will inform you, and the member you have complained about, of the reasons for its decision.
7.2 In some cases the Independent Member or Panel may decide that although the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement' or 'Terms and Conditions' or similar have not been broken, the member’s conduct has been below the standard of what Prime Dispute would expect of its members. In such cases the Independent member or Panel will tell the member, and if appropriate, advise the member of what should have been done. The Independent Member or Panel may also do this if it decides that although the member has been guilty of improper conduct it is not serious enough to be referred to the Disciplinary Board.
7.3 The member and the person making the complaint will be informed of the Independent Member's or Panels decision as soon as possible after it has considered the complaint. If the complaint is to be referred to the Disciplinary Board the member is told of the date on which the Board is to deal with the complaint. The member is also informed of what happens at the hearing and the procedures used by the Board.
8. The Disciplinary Board
8.1 The Disciplinary Board is responsible for adjudicating all cases referred to it by the Independent Member or Panel. It will decide whether the accused member is guilty of the alleged misconduct, and if it finds that he or she is guilty, it will decide what penalty should be imposed.
8.2 The Disciplinary Board consists of one independent member of Prime Dispute and two lay individuals. The Chair will be the Independent member of Prime dispute. At the hearing, the accused member is allowed to represent their own case.
8.3 No other persons are permitted to attend hearings of the Disciplinary Board.
8.4 If the Disciplinary Board finds the member guilty of the allegations against him or her, it has the power to make the following Orders, which are:
(a) Expulsion from Membership;
(b) Imposition of a Fine of up to £1,800 excluding VAT;
(c) Suspension from Membership for any period;
(d) Reprimand and or Admonition;
8.5 The Disciplinary Board will, unless it sees particular reasons for not doing so, arrange for the details of the order against the guilty member to be published.
9.Timetable for dealing with complaints
9.1 Completing this process with due diligence and in most cases will be within 3 months of receipt of the complaint. However, If the matter is referred to the Disciplinary Board, a hearing is arranged as soon as is practicable. Usually, hearings take place within three – six months of the case having been referred to the Disciplinary Board.
10. Right of Appeal
10.1 A member of Prime Dispute who has been found guilty of improper conduct has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Tribunal of Prime Dispute within 28 days of the date on which the Disciplinary Board’s decision is notified to the member, or, in the case of a Suspension, the date the Order is notified to the member. An appeal must be in writing and delivered to Prime Dispute and confirmation must be received by an Executive of Prime Dispute. An administrative charge, determined by the Tribunal, must be paid within 28 days of the date on which the Disciplinary Board’s decision, is notified to the member, or, in the case of a Suspension, the date the Order is notified to the member.
10.2 An appeal received after 28 days will be deemed invalid unless the Independent Fellow (FPD) (who has not directly been involved in the case) considers that there are exceptional circumstances that justify an extension.
10.3 The Appeal Tribunal consists of an Independent Fellow of Prime Dispute. No current member of the Disciplinary Board or Independent Member or Panel, or past member who participated in the consideration of the original case, shall be a member of the Appeals Tribunal.
10.4 An appeal against a decision of the Disciplinary Board may be made on one of more of the following grounds:
(a) Jurisdiction, i.e. whether the alleged improper conduct was within the scope of the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct; or
(b) Procedure, i.e. there was a serious breach of the procedures stipulated in the 'Business Ethics or Conflict of Interest Policy', 'User Agreement', 'Terms & Conditions' or similar; or
(c) Perversity, i.e. the decision was perverse in the light of the evidence; or
(d) Proportionality, i.e. the order of the Disciplinary Board was disproportionate to the gravity of the improper conduct of which the member was found guilty.
10.5 Reasons must be stated for each ground of appeal. Neither the scope of the appeal nor the grounds stated can be amended except with the consent of the Appeal Tribunal appointed to hear the appeal.
10.6 An appeal shall be in the form of a review only and not a rehearing. Oral hearings of the Appeals Tribunal shall follow the same principles and procedures as the Disciplinary Board, but with no witnesses being called. The Appellant may represent himself/herself or the arguments to be presented on his/her behalf may be presented by another person (one individual only) or by the Appellant’s legal representative (one individual only).
10.7 The decision of the Appeals Tribunal shall in all cases be published.
10.8 The Appeal Tribunal has the power to revoke, vary or uphold the decision of the Disciplinary Board. The Appeal Tribunal’s decision is final and conclusive. There is no right of appeal by the person who made the complaint against the member.
10.9 Should Prime Dispute not remove the membership designation of the member no recourse will be made against Prime Dispute or its Executives.
10.10 Neither Prime Dispute; President; Vice President, Trustees, Directors, Case Officers, Employees, Consultants, shall be liable for the service or contact of the Member.
