IMA Disciplinary Procedure for Advanced and Chartered Members

Professional Conduct

  1. The professional conduct of IMA members is governed by Bylaws 27 to 29 of the Institute’s Royal Charter.  The following disciplinary regulations are intended to provide a method by which complaints about Advanced and Chartered members can be dealt with in a fair and consistent manner.  The previously agreed Codes of Professional Conduct have been updated and are attached at Appendix A and Appendix B.
  2. For actions that could lead to an individual being stripped of their CMath or CSci designation, the CMath and CSci Code of Conduct and the regulations below as managed by the Professional Affairs Committee, should be used.
  3. For actions that could lead to an individual being stripped of their MIMA or FIMA post nominals, the IMA Advanced Members Code of Conduct and the regulations below as managed by the Professional Affairs Committee, should be used.
  4. Care should be taken that no process should be adopted which runs contrary to Byelaws 27 to 29 of the Royal Charter.

Definitions

  1. In the Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Process the following terms are used:
  2. Institute – The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
  3. Advanced Member – all Advanced Members of the IMA (MIMAs and FIMAs)
  4. Council – The Council of the IMA
  5. COMPLAINANT – the individual submitting a formal complaint against an Advanced Member
  6. SUBJECT – the Advanced Member who is the subject of an allegation / formal complaint.
  7. President – the President of the IMA
  8. Executive Director – the Executive Director of the IMA

DISCIPLINARY REGULATIONS

  1. All proceedings shall be held in private and the contents are to remain confidential except where explicitly stated in these regulations.
  2. Where the following refers to meetings, these are normally face to face but video conferencing could be considered if this is a more appropriate option.

Receipt of Complaint

  1. All complaints should be submitted to the Executive Director who will instigate this procedure.
  2. On receipt of a complaint, the Executive Director will inform the Vice President, Professional Affairs.=
  3. The Professional Affairs Committee will give preliminary consideration to any complaint laid against an Advanced Member and if appropriate the Executive Director will advise the President of the receipt of the complaint.
  4. If, in the course of their duties, an administrative officer of the Institute identifies Advanced Member activity which could contravene the Code of Professional Conduct, they will refer the matter to the Executive Director.  If the Executive Director considers that the matter does appear to contravene the Code of Professional Conduct they will raise a formal complaint.
  5. If at any time during an investigation it becomes known that the facts giving rise to the complaint are sub-judice or subject to investigation by any other competent tribunal or body, the IMA investigation will be suspended immediately until the matter has been resolved elsewhere.
  6. Any Advanced Member or IMA officer who may have a perceived conflict of interest (e.g. is based at the same institution as the SUBJECT) should excuse themselves from the disciplinary process.
  7. Normally, no action will be taken against an Advanced Member until the matter has been thoroughly investigated.  However in exceptional circumstances the Executive Director may take actions on a temporary basis until such time the investigation is concluded.

Preliminary Investigation

  1. The Vice President, Professional Affairs will nominate an Investigating Advanced Member, with at least the same grade and professional designation as the SUBJECT, from the Professional Affairs Committee, together with the Executive Director or another appropriate person, to carry out a preliminary investigation.  The Investigating Advanced Member must ensure all actions and decisions are documented.
  2. Following an initial review of the complaint and any supporting documentation, the Investigating Advanced Member, together with the Executive Director or another appropriate person, will decide if the complaint is of a trivial or frivolous nature or that there is insufficient evidence to support the complaint.  If so it will be dismissed.  In all other cases the SUBJECT will be notified by registered post of the nature and  particulars of the compliant, and the name of the COMPLAINANT, that this is subject to a preliminary investigation, the right to submit a written statement and that the investigation will proceed without further reference to the SUBJECT provided due notice has been given.  The notification will include a copy of these regulations.
  3. The Investigating Advanced Member, together with the Executive Director or another appropriate person, will consider named written submissions only, with 10 working days’ notice given to all parties, assuming all are available, of when written submissions are required.  The Investigating Advanced Member may either reach a conclusion immediately or suspend consideration to enable further enquiries to be made. They will then either make recommendations to the COMPLAINANT or SUBJECT and:
  • dismiss the complaint if they considers there is no case to answer
  • recommend an alternative recognised form of alternative dispute reconciliation
  • refer the complaint to a Disciplinary Hearing.
  1. The COMPLAINANT and the SUBJECT must be informed by registered post of the outcome of the as soon as possible.

Disciplinary Hearing

  1. Where a case is referred to a Disciplinary Hearing, the Vice President Professional Affairs, should appoint a Disciplinary Committee to act on behalf of Council.  The committee will normally consist of Advanced Members who are not officers of Council. Council should be informed of the establishment of a Disciplinary Committee, preferably in advance but retrospectively is also allowable, so that the Disciplinary Committee shall be a “Committee thereof, specially convened for that purpose” of Byelaw 29.
  2. If the Disciplinary Committee considers that the matter is not serious enough to warrant further proceedings, it will prepare a letter of advice to be sent to the SUBJECT.
  3. An IMA staff member, chosen by the Executive Director, will attend all Disciplinary Committee hearings as Secretary to the Committee but will not take part in any decision making.
  4. However, if during the course of the hearing it transpires that the complaint has implications beyond its initial scope, then the IMA Executive Board may decide to take over the hearing.  This could be the case, for example, if persons other than the SUBJECT are implicated.
  5. The Disciplinary Committee will hold a hearing at which the COMPLAINANT should attend to make the complaint and the SUBJECT to answer it.  The SUBJECT can be accompanied by a supporter.  If either the SUBJECT (or a representative of the SUBJECT) or the COMPLAINANT does not wish to appear, the hearing should take place using the correspondence that has been provided.
  6. The Secretary to the Disciplinary Committee will send the following to the SUBJECT by registered post
  • the date (not be less than 42 working days from the date of despatch of the notice), time and place of the hearing
  • the statement of the complaint together with all supporting documentation
  • notice of whether a COMPLAINANT will be appearing and the names of any other witnesses being called by the IMA,
  • a requirement to provide a copy of all the documents on which the SUBJECT proposes to rely no later than 10 working days before the hearing
  • a requirement to confirm that they intend to attend, be accompanied and by whom, and the names of any witnesses they intend to call
  • an invitation to send a written answer to the case not less than 10 working days before hearing.
  1. The Chair of the Committee will have the power to adjourn the hearing and, after consultation with those present, to fix a date, time and venue for its resumption.
  2. The hearing shall be conducted with transparent fairness and include a statement by an IMA representative of the complaint and evidence to support it with an opportunity to question witnesses, followed by a rebuttal (by the SUBJECT) with evidence (which is also open to questions).  Evidence not disclosed in advance will not be considered.  The Chair of the Committee may permit a SUBJECT’s accompanying supporter to speak on their behalf in exceptional circumstances only.
  3. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Disciplinary Committee with the Secretary will deliberate in private.  The standard of proof required to reach a decision will be a civil standard based upon the balance of probabilities unless, in any particular case, the Chair decides that a higher standard will be adopted.

Resolution

  1. The Disciplinary Committee will have the power to:
  • dismiss the complaint
  • identify incompetence shown by the SUBJECT
  • advise the SUBJECT about extra training and require them to indicate in writing agreement to follow a specific course of action and/or to give a written undertaking as to their future conduct
  • to recommend to IMA Council any of the following:
    • that the SUBJECT be expelled from the IMA
    • that permission to use the Chartered designation should be withdrawn from the SUBJECT, whilst permitting continued membership of the IMA
    • that the SUBJECT be suspended from membership for a period not exceeding two years, subject to meeting specified conditions for reinstatement
    • that the name of the SUBJECT be removed from any register maintained by the IMA or managed by the IMA under licence from the Science Council. The IMA will undertake to inform the third party of any such action.

Communication of Outcome

  1. The Disciplinary Committee shall inform the SUBJECT of the outcome of the hearing, including any sanction, either immediately or after further deliberation in private or it may undertake to arrange to send written notice of the decision within 10 working days.  The Disciplinary Committee will also send a report of its finding to Council.
  2. The Secretary to the Disciplinary Committee will confirm the finding in writing to the SUBJECT by registered post.  The SUBJECT may at any time within 20 working days of the date of postage of the letter announcing the sanction and/or outcome of the hearing seek leave to appeal the decision but only on one or more of the grounds specified below.
  3. The Secretary to the Disciplinary Committee will also confirm the finding in writing to the COMPLAINANT.  The decisions of the Disciplinary Committee, or the Appeal Committee if an appeal is granted, are final and further complaints related to the incident investigated cannot be made unless new information is presented.  The COMPLAINANT may make other complaints provided they are unrelated to any complaint previously investigated.  Compliance with this requirement will be established by the Investigating Advanced Member from the Professional Affairs Committee who has been selected to carry out a preliminary investigation.
  4. The Executive Director will report of any cases considered by Disciplinary Committees to the Council.  If the Committee has dismissed the complaint, no mention will be made of the name of the SUBJECT or the SUBJECT’s category of membership.

Appeal Process

  1. For the purpose of determining an appeal, a meeting of an Appeal Committee will be convened by the President with 3 Advanced Members selected from Executive Board. Advanced Members of the Disciplinary Committee cannot be members of the Appeal Committee.  Council should be informed of the establishment of an Appeal Committee, preferably in advance but retrospectively is also allowable, so that the Appeal Committee shall be a “Committee thereof, specially convened for that purpose” of Byelaw 29.
  2. The Appeal Committee will consider appeals submitted only on the grounds of:
  • procedural impropriety
  • unreasonable decision or sanction
  • further significant evidence that could not reasonably have been made available to the Disciplinary Committee at the time of the original hearing.
  1. The Appeal Committee will have the power to:
  • decide whether further evidence submitted is new evidence of significance which could not reasonably have been presented to the Disciplinary Committee and, if so, to direct that the case be reheard by the Disciplinary Committee in the light of that new evidence
  • quash the finding of the Disciplinary Committee
  • cancel or vary the sanction of the Disciplinary Committee
  • revoke the decision to recommend action to the IMA Council
  • dismiss the appeal.
  1. When the Appeal Committee intends to hold a meeting, at least 10 working days’ notice will be given to the members of the Committee.  The Secretary to the Disciplinary Committee will make available to the Appeal Committee all the documentary evidence.  The Appeal Committee will not hear witnesses and neither the COMPLAINANT nor the SUBJECT will have a right of appearance.
  2. The decision of the Appeal Committee will be confirmed to all parties by the Executive Director within 10 working days and will be final.  The Executive Director will report on any cases considered by the Appeal Committees to the Council.

IMA Council

  1. Where the Disciplinary Committee has recommended any of the outcomes listed below to the IMA Council, then Byelaw 29 of the Royal Charter will come into effect.
  • that the SUBJECT be expelled from the IMA
  • that permission to use the Chartered designation should be withdrawn from the SUBJECT, whilst permitting continued membership of the IMA
  • that the SUBJECT be suspended from membership for a period not exceeding two years
  • that the name of the SUBJECT be removed from any register maintained by the IMA or managed by the IMA under licence from the Science Council. The IMA will undertake to inform the third party of any such action.
  1. The recommendation resulting from this procedure shall be approved by Council in accordance with the following words from Byelaw 29:

“Any Corporate Member of the Institute, or Registrant on the Register of Chartered Mathematicians who has, in the opinion of the Council, duly expressed by a resolution thereof, been guilty of conduct which renders him unfit in its opinion to retain his Corporate Membership or registration shall, on a resolution to that effect passed by the Council at a meeting duly convened with notice of intention to consider the case at which not less than one-third of the members of the Council are present, have his name struck off the Register of the Institute, or the Register of Chartered Mathematicians and shall cease to be a member accordingly.  A person who has been deprived of his Corporate Membership or registration under this Byelaw may be re-admitted by the Council at any time upon such conditions as it may determine.”

  1. A statement concerning the expulsion or suspension of any Advanced Member will be issued in a publication of the IMA after the expiry of any time available for an appeal or after the conclusion of any appeal process.  The Council may also determine that other announcements will be made in the public interest.

Applications for re-admission to membership, re-instatement of the Chartered designation or re-admission to any register

  1. If a person who has been expelled from membership or had their Chartered Status withdrawn subsequently applies for re-admission or re-instatement of their Chartered status, this will be considered by the Membership Committee but will then be passed to the Council for a final decision.

December 2021

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