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Code of Conduct

Disciplinary Procedure

Constitution

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Association of International
Property Professionals
94 New Bond Street
London
W1S 1SJ

Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 7061
Fax: +44 (0)20 7409 7068
Email: memberinfo@aipp.org.uk

  1. Aim
    1. To investigate and adjudicate upon alleged breaches of the code of conduct or constitution.
    2. The disciplinary procedure is not to be used to investigate alleged inadequate service or to deal with disputes between Members or Members and the public.  Those issues shall be referred to independent arbitration in the manner described in AIPP's constitution.
  1. Starting the Disciplinary Process
    1. The disciplinary process shall be started by:
      1. A referral of an issue by the board of AIPP.
      2. A complaint from any other person.
    2. In either case the complaint should be addressed to The Secretary or the Disciplinary Tribunal but, provided that the complaint is brought effectively to the attention of AIPP or to the Tribunal objection shall not be taken to the form of the complaint.
    3. The referral or complaint must be in writing and identify the name and contact information of the complainant.
    4. Upon receipt of a referral or complaint the Secretary shall enter details of the complaint in the register of complaints and may take such steps as he may consider reasonable and appropriate to clarify any issues raised.
    5. Once the Secretary is satisfied that the issues are sufficiently clear he shall attempt to resolve the referral or complaint by informal mediation.
    6. The process of informal mediation must, unless all parties agree to the contrary, be concluded within 28 days.
    7. The Secretary to the Tribunal shall record the complaint, the steps taken to resolve it and (if the mediation successfully resolved the issue) the way in which it was resolved in writing in the Register of Complaints.
    8. If the informal mediation did not successfully resolve the issue the Secretary to the Tribunal shall direct that the referral or complaint is passed to the Disciplinary Tribunal for further investigation and action.
  1. Constitution to Disciplinary Tribunal
    1. The Disciplinary Tribunal shall be constituted from a pool of AIPP Members elected by the Board each year. Each Member shall serve for a period of 3 years and may be re-elected.
    2. The pool shall be divided into 3 parts
      1. The lawyers. There shall be up to six lawyer Members of the pool.
      2. The estate agents or developers. There shall be up to ten estate agent or developer Members of the pool.
      3. Other Members. There shall be up to ten Members of the pool elected from the Members of AIPP who are not estate agents, developers or lawyers.
    3. When the need arises to constitute a Tribunal to deal with a complaint or referral the Secretary to the Tribunal shall constitute one by selecting a lawyer (who shall chair the Tribunal), an estate agent or developer and a person from the other Members pool.
  1. The Secretary to the Tribunal
    1. The board shall, from time to time, appoint a person to act as the Secretary to the Tribunal.
    2. That person need not be a Member of AIPP.
  1. The Parties to the Tribunal
    1. The parties to the Tribunal shall be, in a case of a referral by the Board, a member of the Board; in the case of a complaint by any other person, that person and (in either case) the person about whom the complaint or referral has been made.
    2. The Secretary to the Tribunal shall attend the hearings of the Tribunal, but not their deliberations. They shall take no part in the proceedings of the Tribunal but shall merely be responsible for the administration of the Tribunal.
  1. The first stage in the process
    1. A copy of the referral or the written complaint together with any clarifying notes or documents prepared or obtained by the Secretary shall be given to the chairperson of the Tribunal who may request clarification of any issues or suggest any information that the Board or complainant might wish to produce at the hearing.
    2. The chairperson of the Tribunal shall also direct where the Tribunal hearing shall be held.
  1. The second stage of the process
    1. The hearing of the Tribunal shall be convened by The Secretary.
    2. The hearing shall take place no later than 56 days from the date of the conclusion of the attempt at informal mediation following receipt of the complaint or referral.
    3. The parties shall be given at least 14 days’ notice of the proposed date for the hearing.
    4. Where possible the hearing date shall be agreed with the parties before the notification is sent.
    5. When sending the notification of the proposed hearing the members of the Tribunal and each party to the hearing shall be supplied with a copy of the referral or complaint and any supplementary documents that have been produced.
  1. Representation
    1. The parties may be represented by any person of their choice.
    2. Once the Secretary to the Tribunal has been notified that a party is to be represented he shall send copies of all of the documentation supplied to the parties to that person in addition to the parties themselves.
  1. Conduct of the Tribunal
    1. The Tribunal shall conduct its affairs in a manner consistent with the administration of justice and the principles of fairness and of granting each party the opportunity to be heard and to challenge the evidence presented to the Tribunal.
    2. The Tribunal shall be inquisitorial in nature. It is the responsibility of the Tribunal to attempt to establish the facts, to apply the rules in the Code of Conduct to the facts and, on the basis of the law of England, to reach a reasoned conclusion as to whether the referral or complaint is justified.
    3. Subject to these requirements the Tribunal may fix its own procedure on a case by case basis.
  1. The powers of the Tribunal
    1. If the Tribunal finds that a breach of the rules in the code of conduct or constitution has occurred the Tribunal may do any one or more of the following:
      1. Impose any sanction specifically authorized by the rules.
      2. Reprimand the person concerned.
      3. Impose a fine up to the maximum permitted in the code of conduct.
      4. Recommend to the Board that the membership of the person the subject of the enquiry should be suspended for a specified period or cancelled.
      5. With the agreement of the parties, make an order for compensation if the Tribunal considers that it has the information necessary to do so. If no order for compensation is made then the person wishing to claim compensation will still be able to apply via the arbitration procedure set out in AIPP's Constitution or in accordance with the general law.
      6. Order the person the subject of the referral or complaint to pay the cost of the Tribunal hearing.
    2. The decision of the Tribunal shall be communicated to the parties in writing and shall be accompanied by a statement of the reasons why the Tribunal reached its conclusion. That notice shall be sent to the parties within seven days of the end of the Tribunal hearing. At the same time as the decision is sent to the parties a copy shall be sent to the Board of AIPP.
  1. Appeal
    1. Either of the parties may appeal to a differently constituted Tribunal, which shall rehear the case.
    2. Any appeal shall be lodged within seven days of the date of notification of the decision.
    3. There shall only be one internal AIPP appeal. Any further appeal would be by way of a referral to the courts.

To find out more about the work of the AIPP and how it will benefit the international property world, please call us on +44 (0)20 7409 7061 or email memberinfo@aipp.org.uk (industry) or enquiries@aipp.org.uk (consumer).