A professional working in one of the fields regulated by the Professional Code is obliged to respect the standards of good conduct and the ethical norms of his or her professional order. But an error or an omission is not automatically a fault under a code of conduct or the Professional Code. This is why consulting a lawyer is necessary to know one’s rights concerning professional responsibility, and to know what factors will ensure the best line of defence. Many factors can be taken into account to mitigate the charges contained in a disciplinary matter. And indeed some charges may not have any legal or factual basis. The collaboration between a professional and their lawyer enables an optimally worked-out strategy whose goal is to reduce the charges contained in a disciplinary complaint and therefore minimize the scope of any penalties.
The main procedural stages in disciplinary law:
- The professional inspection.
- The investigation.
- The revision.
- The disciplinary hearing.
- The representations on the penalty.
- The appeal.
It can often be desirable to consult and act even before being subjected to professional inspection, since its purpose is mainly preventive. To be informed about the code of ethics is to act upstream from a professional inspection, in order to prevent being subjected to one.