The General Optical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules Order of Council 2013

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Rules—

“allegation” means an allegation of impairment as set out in section 13D(1), based on one or more of the grounds described in that section;

“business registrant” means a body corporate registered in the register maintained by the Council under section 9(2);

“case examiner” means an officer of the Council appointed by the registrar on the Council’s behalf for the purposes of exercising the functions of the Investigation Committee in accordance with these Rules, being a registered optometrist, registered dispensing optician, or lay person;

“case examiners” means, in relation to any allegation, two case examiners to whom an allegation is referred under rule 4, one of whom must be a lay person and the other being either a registered dispensing optician, or a registered optometrist;

“clinical adviser” means a clinical adviser appointed under section 23E(1)(a)(3) (other advisers);

“conditional order” means an order made under section 13F(4) (powers of the Fitness to Practise Committee) that a registrant’s registration or entry relating to a specialty is to be conditional upon compliance with specified requirements;

“deliberating in private” means deliberating in the absence of the parties, their representatives and the public;

“Fitness to Practise Committee” means the Committee referred to in section 5C(1)(5) (Fitness to Practise Committee);

“Hearings Manager” means an officer of the Council appointed by the registrar on the Council’s behalf for the purposes of dealing with matters relating to the procedural and administrative arrangements for hearings;

“interim order” means an order under section 13L(6) (interim orders);

“interim order hearing” means a hearing for the purposes of considering whether to make an interim order;

“the Investigation Committee” means the Committee referred to in section 4(1)(7) (Investigation Committee);

“lay person”, in relation to a person appointed as a case examiner, means a person—

(a)

who is—

(i)

not, and never has been, registered in a register maintained by the Council,

(ii)

not a director of a body corporate registered in a register maintained by the Council, and

(b)

who does not hold qualifications which would entitle the holder to apply for registration in one of the registers maintained under section 7(8) or 8B(9);

“legal adviser” means a legal adviser appointed under section 23D(1)(10) (legal advisers);

“party” in relation to a hearing or other proceedings held under the Opticians Act 1989 means the registrant or the Council (or their representatives) and references to the parties shall be construed accordingly;

“the Presenting Officer” means the representative of the Council instructed by the registrar to act on behalf of the Council in proceedings before the Fitness to Practise Committee, and may include solicitor or counsel;

“private hearing” means a hearing of the Fitness to Practise Committee which only the following are entitled to attend—

(i)

the parties and any person representing a party,

(ii)

any person acting as secretary to the Committee,

(iii)

any person giving evidence,

(iv)

any legal adviser, clinical adviser or specialist adviser,

(v)

any person responsible for the recording of the proceedings, and

(vi)

any other person whose presence is deemed necessary by the Chair of the Committee;

“procedural hearing” means any hearing at which the Fitness to Practise Committee may determine matters of procedure only;

“registrant”—

(a)

for the purposes of the service of any notification or other notice under these Rules or the provision of information, includes a person whom the registrant informs the registrar is instructed to represent that registrant; and

(b)

in relation to a hearing, includes any representative of the registrant attending the hearing in accordance with the provisions of rule 21(2);

“registrar” means the registrar of the Council referred to in section 1(3) (constitution and functions of the Council);

“specialist adviser” means a specialist adviser appointed under section 23E(1)(b);

“specialty” means a specialty or level of proficiency particulars of which may, by virtue of rule 10 (specialties) of the General Optical Council (Registration) Rules 2005(11), be entered in a register in respect of a registrant;

“standard directions” means the standard procedural directions set out in the table in rule 29;

“substantive hearing” means any hearing at which the Fitness to Practise Committee may—

(a)

determine any issue relating to an allegation against a registrant; or

(b)

make an order under the provisions of sections 13F to 13I(12) (power to order immediate suspension etc. after a finding of impairment of fitness to practise and hearings to review such orders); and

“suspension order” means any order made under section 13F directing that a registrant’s registration be suspended for a specified period or indefinitely or that a registrant’s entry relating to a specialty be removed for a specified period.

(2) In these Rules any reference to a numbered section is a reference to the section of the Opticians Act 1989 which bears that number.

(1)

Section 13D was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 16 and amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2009 (c.26) section 81.

(2)

Section 9 was amended by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 10.

(3)

Section 23E was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 17.

(4)

Section 13F was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 16.

(5)

Section 5C was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 4.

(6)

Section 13L was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 16.

(7)

Section 4 was substituted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 4.

(8)

Section 7 was amended by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 7.

(9)

Section 8B was inserted by S.I. 2007/3101, regulation 1.

(10)

Section 23D was inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 17 and amended by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4), section 59, Schedule 11, Part 3, paragraph 5.

(11)

The Rules are scheduled to the General Optical Council (Registration Rules) Order of Council (S.I. 2005/1478).

(12)

Sections 13F to 13I were inserted by S.I. 2005/848, articles 2 and 16.