Reviewing fitness to practise decisions under section 29

Reviewing fitness to practise decisions under section 29

Under Section 29, we review all final stage fitness to practise decisions made by the regulators' committees and panels. We can refer such decisions to court if we consider that they are unduly lenient and that referral is necessary in order to protect the public. The decision to refer a case to court is taken by members of a ‘Section 29 case meeting’.

Copies of notes of past Section 29 meetings are available for review, as well as Section 29 case statistics, and further information about court referrals and outcomes. Copies of our guidance documents can be downloaded below.

We only refer cases to court under our Section 29 jurisdiction when there is no other effective means of protecting the public. Although referral has resulted in some inappropriate decisions being changed, resulting in greater public protection, the real value of Section 29 is the impact that this work has on future decisions. The main purpose of section 29 is to improve the quality of the regulators' fitness to practise processes and the quality of committees decisions across the regulatory bodies. Often, cases we look at give rise to learning points which we feed back to the regulators in order to maintain and encourage good practice.

Further information about our Fitness to Practise Forum and learning points can be found in the 'Promoting Good Practice' area of the website.