GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 3083

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 January, 2020 to 31st March, 2020, the Commission received a total of one hundred and ninety three (193) 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 No. of Complaints Rejected for lack of substance 1 Classified 0 Undergoing Preliminary Enquiry and therefore carried over to the next quarter 2. The total number of complaints carried over to the period under review (that is 1st January, 2020 to 31st March, 2020) from previous quarters are four thousand three hundred and eighty five (4385). 3. During the period under review a total of fifty three (53) complaints were classified and files opened. The nature of new complaints classified is as shown below: SINo . Nature of Complaints No. of Complaints 1 Failure to render professional services 2 Withholding funds 26 3 Failure to honour professional undertaking 4 Overcharging 1 5 Failure to account 4 6 Failure to keep client informed 1 TOTAL 53 4. 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 two hundred (200). (ii) Classified Complaints: Total number of complaints finalised were forty six (46) whose details are as follows: S/No. Action No. of Complaints 1 Abandoned 18 2 Settled 6 3 Rejected 3 4 No misconduct proved 18 5 Withdrawn TOTAL 46 9th April, 2020 5. Pursuant to section 53 (4) and in the spirit of section 53 (5) of the Advocates Act, thirty seven (37) complaints were settled amicably at the Advocates' Complaints Commission. 6. 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 seven (27). 7. During the period under review fifteen (15) complaints pending at the Disciplinary Committee were disposed of as follows: S/No. Action No. of Complaints 1 Advocates suspended 2 2 Settled (matters resolved) 7 3 Withdrawn 1 4 Advocate struck off 1 5 Dismissed 4 TOTAL 15 8. In summary: SINo . Description No. of Complaints 1 Complaints brought forward to the period 1st January, 2020 to 31st March, 2020 from previous quarters 2 Complaints received between 1st January, 2020 and 31st March, 2020 Total complaints for the period under review 4578 3 Files disposed of during the period under review Total pending complaints as at 31st March, 2020 4317 Dated the 1st April, 2020. CAROLINE SARONI, Chairperson, Advocates Complaints Commission.