Engineering Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 46 of 2000)29. Charge of improper conduct |
| (1) | The council must, after considering a report of the investigating committee in terms of section 28(2)(b) and (4), charge a registered person with improper conduct if the council is convinced that sufficient grounds exist for a charge to be preferred against such a registered person. |
| (2) | The council must furnish a charge sheet to the registered person concerned by hand or registered mail. |
| (3) | A charge sheet must inform the registered person charged— |
| (a) | of the details and nature of the charge; |
| (b) | that he or she must, in writing, admit or deny the charge; |
| (c) | that he or she may, together with the admission or denial, submit a written explanation regarding the improper conduct with which he or she is charged; and |
| (d) | of the period, which must be reasonable, within which his or her plea in terms of paragraph (b) must be submitted to the council. |
| (4) |
| (a) | If a registered person charged admits that he or she is guilty of the charge, he or she is considered to have been found guilty of improper conduct as charged, after he or she has explained his or her conduct. |
| (b) | The council may, subject to section 32(2), impose a penalty contemplated in section 32(3)(a) or (b) on a registered person who has admitted guilt in terms of paragraph (a). |
| (5) | The acquittal or the conviction of a registered person by a court of law on a criminal charge is not a bar to proceedings against him or her under this Act on a charge of improper conduct, even if the facts stated in the charge of improper conduct would, if proved, constitute the offence stated in the criminal charge on which he or she was acquitted or convicted or any other offence of which he or she might have been acquitted or convicted at his or her trial on the criminal charge. |