GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 164

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, 2021 to the 31st December, 2021, the Commission received a total of two hundred and thirty-two (232) new complaints and submitted them for enquiry under the Preliminary Enquiry initiative. The current status of the above new complaints is as shown below: S/No. | Status No. of Complaints 1__| Rejected 12 2 | Undergoing Preliminary Enquiry and| 220 therefore carried over to the next quarter The total number of complaints carried over to the period under review (that is Ist October, 2021 to 31st December, 2021) from previous quarters are three thousand eight hundred and eight five (3885). During the period under review, a total of thirty-seven (37) complaints were classified and files opened. The nature of new complaints classified is as shown below: S/No, | Nature of Complaints No. of Complaints 1 Failure to render professional 11 services 2 _{ Withholding funds 23 3 Issuing dishonoured cheque 3 TOTAL 37 Complaints filed against advocates/firms of advocates were disposed of in the following manner during the period under review — (a) Preliminary Enquiry (PE) Complaints Total number of complaints closed under the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) initiative were one hundred and three (103). (b) Classified Complaints: Total number of complaints finalised were seven (7) whose details are as follows: 14th January, 2022 S/No. | Action No. of Complaints 1 Settled 3 2 | Advocate struck off 1 3__| Withdrawn 1 4 _|No misconduct proved 2 TOTAL 7 Pursuant to section 53 (4) and in the spirit of section 53 (5) of the Advocates Act, twenty-four (24) complaints were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 two (2). During the period under review, eight (8) complaints pending at the Disciplinary Committee were disposed as follows: S/No. | Action No. of Complaints 1 Settled (matter resolved) 5 2 _|Complaint case withdrawal 2 3___| Abated (advocate deceased) 1 TOTAL 8 In summary: we No. of S/No. | Description Complaints 1 | Complaints brought forward to the period Is 3885 October, 2021 to the 3lst December, 2021 from previous quarters 2 |Complaints received between Ist October. 232 2021 to the 31st December, 2021 TOTAL COMPLAINTS FOR THE PERIOD UNDER 4117 REVIEW 3 |Files disposed of during the period under 110 review TOTAL PENDING COMPLAINTS AS AT 31ST 4007 DECEMBER, 2021 Dated the 4th January, 2022. CAROLINE SARONI, Chairperson, Advocates Complaints Commission.