---

New legal disciplinary body began work in 2023

The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (LPDT) made determinations in more than 20 complaints against practitioners last year, according to the annual report of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA).

The tribunal is an independent statutory body under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Its role is to consider complaints of misconduct against solicitors and barristers referred to it from the LSRA’s Complaints Committee or the Law Society.

The LPDT began receiving applications from both the Law Society and the LSRA in 2022.

Determinations to be published

In 2023 it received a total of 22 applications, all relating to allegations of misconduct regarding solicitors. Of these, 16 applications were received from the Law Society and six from the LSRA.

During 2023, the LPDT began holding both case-management hearings and inquiry hearings.

According to the LSRA’s annual report, the tribunal’s determinations will be made available to the public and media this year, with some notices also being placed in other publications – including the Law Society Gazette.

Lay members

The LPDT has a total of 33 members appointed by the President of the High Court on the nomination of the Minister for Justice, with 21 lay members and six each from the Law Society and the Bar of Ireland.

One of the LPDT’s solicitor members resigned at the end of 2023, which put its membership at 32 at the end of the year.

While the LPDT is a separate entity to the LSRA with its own premises, the LSRA provides it with administrative and technical support.