Handling concerns and complaints

You can raise concerns or complaints about:

• The quality and standard of any service we provide
• Our failure to provide a service
• The quality of our facilities
• The behaviour of Inn employees.
• The behaviour of Called Inn members at the Inn or when engaged on Inn business.
• The behaviour of student members of the Inn.  The Inn will investigate any allegations of student misconduct, at the Inn or elsewhere. If the Inn determines that the student has engaged in conduct which calls into question whether they may be a fit and proper person to be Called to the Bar, the Inn will refer the student’s conduct to the Inns’ Conduct Committee (ICC). It will be for the ICC to determine whether the student is a fit and proper person to practise as a barrister.

Concerns or complaints about the behaviour of employees will normally be addressed through our employment, discipline and grievance procedures.

If you feel that you have been subject to harassment in connection with the activities of the Inn (or witnessed the harassment of others) you may wish to refer to the Joint Inns’ Anti-Harassment Policy.

We will not be able to consider concerns or complaints about:

• The behaviour of barrister or judicial members in their professional capacity. Such concerns or complaints about the conduct of barrister members should be referred to their chambers and / or the Bar Standards Board (BSB).  Concerns or complaints about conduct of a judge should be referred to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
• Student disciplinary cases already dealt with or being dealt with by the ICC.
• Barrister disciplinary cases already dealt with or being dealt with by the BSB or Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service.
• Matters that have already been fully dealt with through this process.

Some matters can be resolved quickly and informally, and it is often helpful to discuss a concern before making a formal complaint.  It is normally best to raise a concern as soon as possible, while memories are fresh, and issues can be addressed promptly.

In the first instance, you can raise your concerns directly with the relevant senior manager [link]. The manager will listen to your concerns and discuss with you the best way forward. This may include attempting to resolve your concerns informally.

Formal complaints must be made in writing by email or letter to hr@lincolnsinn.org.uk or HR Department, The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, London, WC2A 3TL. When submitting a complaint please be as precise as possible about the issue and how you would like us to resolve it.

Any concerns or complaints about the Under Treasurer should be raised with the HR Director who will then bring them to the attention of the Treasurer.

We can help you if you have a disability which makes it difficult to set out a written complaint.

These procedures apply to a broad range of concerns and complaints. Some may be straightforward and be easily resolved; others may be more complex and involve more detailed examination.

In all cases, the Inn will treat those involved with courtesy, respect and fairness. We will listen, examine the facts and seek an objective and proportionate outcome.  We will make every effort to do so promptly and to avoid delay.

We understand that it can be stressful to make a complaint or to have a complaint made about you and will direct you to sources of support.

The person about whom you are raising a concern or complaint will not be involved in making any decision on your concern or complaint.

Raising concerns

If you wish to raise a concern, you should call or email the relevant senior manager. Depending on the nature of your concern, the matter may be passed to another manger to consider. You will be informed of the name of the person responsible for considering your concern.

In most cases the manager considering your concern will want to speak to you about it and to understand the outcome which you are seeking.  They may wish to gather further information.  Once they have done so they will seek the views of a senior member of the executive team on their conclusions and any proposed remedial action.  They will inform you of the outcome.

You may at any stage decide that you wish to make a more formal complaint in writing, in which case the process below will apply.

Complaints

Stage 1 – Complaint screening

Written complaints will be acknowledged on receipt. An initial assessment as to whether the matter falls within the scope of these procedures will be carried out by the HR Department, with assistance from the Under Treasurer or relevant head of department.  If either:

• the Inn concludes that a complaint should more appropriately be made to another body; or
• a complainant notifies the Inn that they are also making a complaint to another body (e.g. the BSB),

the Inn may choose to suspend examination of the matter until the other body has concluded its considerations. In such circumstances, the Inn may consider whether it would be appropriate to take interim action, such as requesting a member or members to stop participating in specified Inn activities.

Stage 2 – Complaint examination

Complaints will be examined in line with our general principles for complaints handling.  We will aim to complete examination of complaints as promptly as possible, although cases which are referred to a panel can take longer.

If a complaint falls within the scope of these procedures and is not being considered by another body, the relevant manager will examine the circumstances and gather further information.  This might involve initial discussions with the complainant, the subject of the complaint and others who may be able to provide relevant information.

Complaints involving a student member will normally be examined by the Director of Membership & Education or another manager in the Membership & Education Department.  If the complaint involves the behaviour of a Called Inn member, the Under Treasurer will inform the Treasurer, who will appoint an individual or a panel to examine the complaint.

It is likely that those considering a complaint about behaviour will wish to talk to the complainant, to the person who is subject of the complaint, to any witnesses and to anyone who may be able to provide information relevant to the complaint.  Such conversations may be carried out remotely or in person.  They do not take the form of a ‘hearing’: separate meetings take place with complainants, subjects of the complaint and witnesses.

Stage 3 – Complaint determination

The panel or individual considering the matter will reach a decision on the outcome and inform the complainant and anyone about whom a complaint was made:

• what they concluded about the justification for the complaint;
• why they reached those conclusions;
• their recommendations about steps needed to remedy matters or avoid recurrence.

We will ensure that any recommendations are taken forward as soon as practically possible, unless there is a request for a review of the findings. If a review is requested, recommendations will be suspended pending the outcome of the review.

The outcome letter will explain that a review can be requested and how to do this.

Those who raise a concern or complaint and those who are subjects of them may ask for the outcome to be reviewed. The request must be made in writing to the person who notified them of the outcome within 20 working days of the date of notification of the decision. The request must make clear which aspect/s of the original decision the individual disagrees with and why.

For complaints about services or facilities, the Under Treasurer will be notified and will conduct the review or appoint another Executive Team member to do so.

For complaints about Called members, the Treasurer will be notified and will appoint an individual or a panel to review the complaint

The review will be carried out as promptly as is practically possible. Cases that require a panel can take longer to resolve.

Review will not take the form of a fresh examination of the matter, but consideration of whether the outcome arrived at and the process followed when determining the complaint were reasonable.

Once a review under the Inn’s process has concluded, there is no further route of appeal, except in the case of students who may appeal to the ICC.

We will keep records of all complaints received for six years from the date of the final response, unless the subject of the complaint is a member of the Inn, and the matter complained of results in disbarment or actions that have a defined period longer than six years.

Disbarment is often for a defined period, after which reinstatement of Call to the Bar may be considered.  In such cases the record of a complaint will be kept until the subject is 75.

Other measures taken following a complaint may also be timebound and records of relevant complaints will be kept for the specified period or for six years, whichever is longer.

The record of complaints will comprise:

·                      The date the complaint was received

·                      The complainant’s name

·                      The complainant’s contact and other personal details

·                      The service, facilities, employee, or member complained about

·                      The nature of the complaint

·                      Material provided by the complainant

·                      Material provided by the relevant department or the subject of the complaint

·                      Notes from meetings held as part of the examination of the complaint

·                      Any electronic material gathered as part of the examination of the complaint, such as copies of the Inn’s CCTV, audio recordings, or photographs

·                      The decision and date

·                      The reasons for decision

·                      Any actions, including timeframe for actions

After the relevant period has elapsed the personal data on complaints will be destroyed.  The Inn will retain anonymised data for statistical purposes, such as the analysis of trends and improvements.

All records will be kept centrally and will be kept confidential except where disclosure is required by law or for disciplinary or other remedial processes. All records will be stored and managed in accordance with our Data Protection Policy.

Anonymised reports may be used to assist the Inn in highlighting common issues and improving policies, processes, or training for employees or members. Anonymised reports on complaints related to our regulated activities for students may also be provided to the BSB for quality assurance purposes, in line with our Memorandum of Understanding with the BSB.