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Appointment of members of the Disciplinary Board
Brussels,07.09.2010
D(2010) Ares(2010)567156
This Administrative Notice concerns the appointment of members of the
Disciplinary Board, a joint organ set up under the Staff Regulations to
advise the Appointing Authority in disciplinary procedures under Section 5
of Annex IX to the Staff Regulations.
The Director-General of DG HR and the Staff Committee have recently (re-)
appointed the full and alternate members as well as the additional members
of the Disciplinary Board (annexed to this Administrative Notice).
What is the role of the Disciplinary Board?
In disciplinary proceedings in which the Appointing Authority intends to
impose a penalty with pecuniary consequences, the Staff Regulations
provide that the official in question is heard by a Disciplinary Board,
whose Chairman and members are completely independent in the performance
of their duties. On the basis of a report established by the Appointing
Authority which is sent both to the Disciplinary Board and the official in
question, the latter has the right to be heard, whereby he may submit
observations both orally and in writing and ask for witnesses to be
called. The official is entitled to be accompanied by a person of his
choice.
After consideration of all of the comments made by the official in
question, the Disciplinary Board delivers a reasoned opinion, by majority
vote, as to whether the facts complained of by the Appointing Authority
are established and indicating the penalty it considers appropriate, if
any. Members may attach to the opinion divergent views. When the final
disciplinary decision is adopted, the Appointing Authority is required to
take into consideration the opinion of the Disciplinary Board and provide
an extensive motivation if that opinion is not followed.
How is the Disciplinary Board composed?
The Disciplinary Board consists of a Chairman and four full members, who
may be replaced by alternates. For a given case, two members are chosen
amongst those appointed by the Appointing Authority, and two by the Staff
Committee. The full and alternate members of the Disciplinary Board are
chosen from officials in active employment in grade AD14 or above for all
cases except those concerning officials in grades AD15 and AD16. For cases
involving the latter grades of officials, the members and alternates are
chosen from amongst officials in grade AD16, in active employment. For
cases involving an official up to and including grade AD13, two additional
members in the same function group and grade as the official subject to
the disciplinary proceedings form part of the Disciplinary Board, one
taken from a list established by the Appointing Authority and the other
one from a list established by the Staff Committee.
The Chairman is chosen from outside the institution. The current Chairman
of the Commission's Disciplinary Board is Dr Carl Otto LENZ, a former
attorney general at the European Court of Justice.
Irčne SOUKA |
