GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 560

PURSUANT to section 53 (9) of the Advocates Act and Rule 12 (1) of the Advocates (Complaints Commission) Rules, 1991, it is notified for general information that from the 1st October, 2023 to 31st December, 2023, the Commission received a total of three hundred and three (303) new complaints and submitted them for enquiry under the Preliminary Enquiry Initiative. The current status of the above new complaints is as shown below: Status Rejected 22 Undergoing Preliminary Enquiry and therefore carried over to the next quarter. The total number of complaints carried over to the period under review 1st October, 2023 to 31st December, 2023, from previous quarters are three thousand two hundred and seventy one (3271). During the period under review, a total of seventy one (71) complaints were classified and files opened. The nature of new complaints classified is as shown below: Nature of Complaints No. of Complaints Failure to render professional services 4 Withholding funds 49 Failure to account 11 Failure to inform 3 Overcharging 3 No practicing certificate 1 TOTAL 71 Complaints filed against advocates/firms of advocates were disposed of in the following manner during the period under review: i. Preliminary Enquiry (PE) Complaints: Total number of complaints closed under the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) initiative were three hundred and seventy six (376). ii. Classified Complaints: Total number of complaints finalised were one hundred and twenty six (126) whose details are as follows: Action No. of Complaints Settled 78 Matter Dismissed 11 Advocate Struck off 1 Advocate Deceased 21 Abandoned 5 Withdrawn 10 TOTAL 126 Pursuant to section 53 (4) and in the spirit of section 53 (5) of the Advocates Act, forty (40) complaints were settled amicably at the Advocates’ Complaints Commission. The matters referred to the Disciplinary Committee during the same period for further action and in accordance with section 60 (1) of the Advocates Act were twenty nine (29). In summary: Description No. of Complaints Complaints brought forward to the period 1st October, 2023 to 31st December, 2023 from previous quarters Complaints received between 1st October, 2023 to 31st December, 2023 TOTAL 3574 Files disposed of during the period under review TOTAL 3072 Dated the 3rd January, 2024. MOSES K. CHEBOI, Chairperson, Advocates Complaints Commission.