Investigations and prosecutions of allegations of professional misconduct are often complex, time-consuming, and expensive. It is a well-established principle within administrative law that the general membership of the profession should not bear the total costs related to a registrant’s misconduct.
At its March 2019 meeting, Council approved a discipline cost-recovery policy that directs College legal counsel to seek a higher proportion of costs in penalty orders related to expenses directly incurred by the College in prosecuting discipline cases. This may include the College’s legal costs and expenses, costs and expenses incurred in investigating the matter, and costs and expenses incurred in conducting a hearing.
Council approved this policy effective immediately. As well, Council adopted a schedule of hourly rates applicable to in-house staff engaged in prosecutions and investigations for use by OCP legal counsel when seeking indemnification of College costs at hearings.
To learn more, please refer to the March 25, 2019 Council meeting agenda.