The Farriers Registration Council’s (FRC) Disciplinary Committee (DC) is a statutory committee established by way of Section 14 and Schedule 3 of the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975; it comprises nine members, a mix of lay and professional, who are appointed by the Council.
The DC is a properly constituted judicial tribunal and its rules of procedure are set out in legislation by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Advocate; the DC, as a matter of Council policy, applies the civil standard of proof, that is, on the balance of probabilities. If the DC finds a charge or charges against a respondent proved, and decides that the matters proved amount to serious misconduct in a professional respect, it may order the respondent’s name be removed or suspended from the Register of Farriers. Alternatively, the DC may issue a reprimand or a warning as to future conduct, judgment may be postponed for a stated period, or it may make no direction. Where a sanction of removal or suspension is directed the respondent may appeal to the High Court or to the Court of Session.
No person who has acted as a member of the Investigating Committee (IC) with respect to any case shall act as a member of the DC with respect to that same case.
The FRC operates open disciplinary procedures, meaning that disciplinary hearings are open to the public and to the media, and the Council is expected to publish information about the outcomes of disciplinary hearings and how they may affect the registration of a registrant. Publication of the intention to hold hearings, and publication of the outcomes, enables the public to be reassured that the FRC is carrying out its statutory duties as Parliament intended.
A copy of the FRC’s ‘Publication Policy for Statutory Functions delivered by the independently-operated Investigating and Disciplinary Committees’ is available to view in the ‘Related Documents’ section below.
A copy of the FRC leaflet ‘Your Disciplinary Hearing’ is a guide to what happens before, during and after a hearing, and is available to view in the ‘Related Documents’ section below.
Current scheduled disciplinary hearings are as follows:
13 November 2023 - FRC V Mr L D Walker DipWCF (Notice of Inquiry) - The case of FRC vs Mr Walker opened on 13/11/2023 and was adjourned part heard. The case resumed on 07/03/2024 and was adjourned part heard; the case will be resumed at a later date.
Where a Notice of Inquiry is available to view (and indicated in the list of forthcoming hearings above) this can be accessed in the 'Related Documents' section below. (Notice of Inquiries are generally published 14 days prior to a hearing.)
Upon conclusion of a hearing the determination and decision of the DC is published for the relevant period in accordance with the sanction applied. Click here to view published determinations.
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