Joint Tribunal Standing Orders

Standard Time Scale Proposed

(1) The Applicant shall within 28 days of submitting written agreement to be bound by the decision of the Joint Tribunal send:

a) direct to the OSS;

i) two further copies of the agreement,

ii) two copies of the Statement of Case with any supporting documents which must include relevant fee notes and correspondence (one set for the OSS and one for the Joint Tribunal Law Society member) and,

b) i) direct to the Bar Council two further copies of the Statement of Case and supporting documents; (one set for the Bar Council and one for the Joint Tribunal Bar Council member), and,

c) direct to the Respondent;

i) a Statement of Case, together with all documents relied upon, which must include relevant fee notes and correspondence.

(2) The Respondent shall, within 28 days of receipt of the Applicant’s Statement of Case, supply:

a) two copies of their Statement of Response direct to the OSS (as in (1) above) and,

b) two copies to the Bar Council (as in (1) above), and,

c) supply to the Applicant a Statement of Response, together with all documents relied upon.

(3) All documents which are submitted shall be indexed and paginated consecutively in the top right hand corner.

(4) If either party relies upon the evidence of another person a statement of such evidence shall be signed and dated by the witness.

(5) The Joint Tribunal shall be appointed within 14 days of the receipt by the OSS and the Bar Council of the Statement of Case. The members of the Joint Tribunal shall be supplied with copies of the Statements, by the OSS and the Bar Council respectively. Upon receipt of the Statements by the Joint Tribunal, it shall notify the parties of a date for the determination of the dispute which is not later than 56 days after the date provided above for the supply of the Statement of Response.

(6) If, in exceptional circumstances, the Applicant wishes to submit a Statement of Reply, or either party wishes to submit additional material to the Joint Tribunal, they shall request permission to do so within 14 days of the receipt by the Applicant of the Statement of Response. Such requests shall be accompanied by a draft Statement of Reply and/or any material sought to be relied upon. The Tribunal shall rule upon the admissibility of such documents and its ruling shall be final.

(7) Any applications by either party in respect of the conduct of the dispute shall be included within the Statement of Case/Response. The Joint Tribunal shall determine the dispute on the basis of the written submissions of the parties unless in the opinion of the Joint Tribunal an oral hearing is appropriate.

(8) Subject to Rule 7 above, if an oral hearing has been requested the Joint Tribunal shall, when fixing the date for the determination of the dispute, inform the parties, the OSS and the Bar Council, whether or not a hearing is considered to be appropriate, of the date, time and venue for the hearing.

(9) The Joint Tribunal shall rule upon any application by either party in respect of the conduct of the dispute, and shall notify the parties, the OSS and the Bar Council, of any consequential directions when giving notice of the date for the determination of the dispute.

(10) Payment of any sum found to be due shall be made within 14 days of the date of notification of any determination by the Joint Tribunal.

(11) Non compliance with these directions shall entitle the Joint Tribunal to dismiss any case or response and to determine the dispute as the Tribunal thinks fit.

(12) The Joint Tribunal shall have power in its absolute discretion to award interest upon unpaid fees for such period and at such rate as it deems appropriate in the circumstances.

(13) The Joint Tribunal shall have power to direct payment of undisputed sums forthwith and payment shall be made within 14 days of any interim determination.

(14) In the event of non-payment within the due time of any determination or interim determination the Joint Tribunal shall refer the matter as professional misconduct to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors or to The General Council of the Bar.